The Fantasy Begins in Rio
by Rob The Ara Macao
Summary: A Macaw is found by Blu and Jewel in rather mysterious circumstances. He will meet both new friends & enemies as he tries to find out what happened to him. This story is a prequel to Jixstun's Fantasy Can Happen in Rio, & is written with his permission & input.
1. Chapter 1

**After a long time with this story in my mind finally I decided to write it. I'd like to thank Jixstun for his support, without him this story would never have existed.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Rio de Janeiro, one of the most beautiful places in South America & the World. Music is a common element here that can be heard everywhere in the city or the jungle, everyone's hearts beat at the rhythm of Samba singing along with their catchy lyrics & the hot weather can melt the coldest ones making them join in the fun, a place where love can be found, even if you´re not looking for it. Anyone can enjoy the wonders of this wonderful place letting you feel free just like a bird, this can happen to everyone; for a Human or even a bird, a place where everyone can begin their fantasy.

It was a peaceful & normal day in Rio, birds flying around singing & dancing; making the observer feel the magic as everyone enjoyed the life only this place can give. Blu & his mate were enjoying the sunset perched on a tall tree that allowed them to see over the Jungle´s canopy to the sight of the Sun sinking behind the distant mountains. Blu, a Spix Macaw that arrived to Rio after living fifteen years away & known as the last male of his kind was musing about his new life.

Blu had gotten all any bird in the world would've wanted: living in a wonderful place, having great friends & sharing all with a beautiful mate: Jewel, the last female Spix Macaw known that was caught with the sole purpose that she could meet Blu, an idea she (in a less violent way to say it) didn't like. Fortunately for them both however, events had worked out in their favor & she had accepted him as her partner. At this thought, Blu started to swing over the branch they were perching on due to his happiness at the delighted look of Jewel.

Also, Blu continued musing, his best friend & former owner from all his life was there too: Linda, who decided to stay in Rio guided by her feelings towards Tulio the Ornithologist that brought Blu & Linda from icy Minnesota to the magical city. Soon she would be opening a Bookstore that would also be a home for her & the young Orphan boy called Fernando she had taken in. Blu & Jewel's first meeting with that boy hadn't been the best first impression, but he had proven himself a good friend in the end.

Blu was excited to visit Linda's new Bookstore when it was ready. He would get to see her & of course read some of his favourite books. The only thing he wished was that Linda could bring the books from the old Bookstore in Minnesota rather than only buying new ones because those books would be in Portuguese, a language Blu wasn't able to understand yet.

Blu also enjoyed the music of the area, especially Samba; something his two friends: Nico, the Canary, & Pedro, the Cardinal, had reintroduced him to after being away from it for so long. They had even given him some recordings of their best songs as a birthday gift so he could listen to them whenever he wanted, which was a nice gesture even though Blu didn't know where he could find an MP3 player in the middle of the jungle. Despite that, Blu thanked them for it & had asked his friends for an MP3 player for his next birthday.

Moving onto another of his new friends, Blu smiled reminiscently when he remembered about the first time he met Rafael, the Toco Toucan, who had helped him to impress Jewel, or at least try to. Since then they had become good friends, he had given Blu some advice about living in the Jungle & how everything worked there. Surprisingly for Blu the Jungle, more specifically the bird society in the Blu Bird Sanctuary (a name that shamed him a lot) in which they were living, was less wild than he imagined, everything had an order: they had meeting areas; flying routes; unbelievable they even had specific places meant for physiological needs, knowing what that meant.

For Blu his life was perfect & nothing could change that, at least that´s what he thought.

The Sunlight was fading, leaving only an orange color covering the Jungle; the sounds of the birds started to die down as they disappeared inside the trees getting ready for the night that was approaching. In this peace, Jewel noticed Blu was enjoying himself & thought that was her chance, suddenly she interrupted the silence.

"Blu." Jewel said with concern, clearly showing that she was struggling with something inside her mind, something that wasn't common with her seeing as she was usually a free spirit who didn't spend too much time thinking about her actions. "Did you ever notice something is missing here?" she finally decided to speak.

"Well..." Blu said as he was roused from out of his thoughts. "I guess it's all enough for us, our life is perfect." he answered pleasantly.

"I know we have happiness." Jewel said. "But something is missing for both of us." she said with confidence as Blu started to shiver, not because of the cold of the night but the sole thought of where Jewel´s words were heading to.

_Is she thinking of…? No! I'm not ready yet!_ Blu thought & gulped when he suddenly felt Jewel´s hug.

Blu was about to panic & prayed for something that could take him out from that situation as he started to roll his eyes in many directions until they fixed on a sight up in the sky. "Oh look, that shouldn't be flying so low down!" he said trying to release himself from the hug as he pointed with his primary feather to a huge Plane that was flying over the Jungle's canopy, obviously trying to divert Jewel from the topic of the conversation.

The plane passed by making a lot of noise scaring some birds who had already settled on the trees for the night.

"Don't you know what is missing Blu?" Jewel persisted, once the noise had faded & ignoring Blu´s last comment. This time Blu was in panic, both because of the Plane & for Jewel´s question. He was sure he was about to have a heart attack.

Blu started to think on a plan that would take that issue out of the conversation. "Yes! I got it." he said as he had an idea. "I know what we need Jewel!" he said quickly.

"I´m glad you've realized by yourself Blu." Jewel said relieved that she hadn't had to be more direct to him to make him realize about what she was talking about. "So? Tell me." she pressed.

"What we need in our lives is…" Blu said stopping his breathing for some seconds. "A new friend!" Blu answered hoping that would help Jewel to change the topic but he realized it didn't work when he saw Jewel´s expression.

Blu´s answer disappointed Jewel, she never talked with him about that before but she was sure Blu knew it. That was the reason he was in Rio after all. Although, if he didn´t remember it; then she would need to remind him.

"That wasn't what I…" Jewel began when suddenly Blu interrupted her. "Look up there, someone is falling!" he said pointing his primary feather at a red silhouette falling from the sky. "We have to do something!" he shouted.

When Jewel turned around to see, Blu had already flown off as fast as he could in the direction he had pointed. She frowned at his retreating back. "Blu, this isn't over yet." she muttered with a faintly annoyed look on her face as she also took off following him.

While Blu was flying he thought he should thank that bird who unintentionally helped him to get out of that awkward situation with Jewel.

Who is he? Blu thought as he got closer & realized that it was a male red Macaw that he had never seen before, he was falling at a great speed & also he noticed the bird was unconscious. He's out cold! I must save him! Blu thought as he flapped his wings harder, trying to reach the Macaw faster.

Blu flew as fast as his wings would let him, trying to intercept the other bird. As he approached the red Macaw he tried to grab the other bird´s claws with his own. This was an extremely complicated maneuver due to the high speed they were falling & Blu's relative inexperience with flying. He hadn't been doing it that long after all. Despite that he managed to match his fall speed with the other bird´s & with some effort got a grip on his claws. Yes! I got him! Blu thought & started to flap his wings trying to stop the other bird´s fall. Blu felt they were slowing down, but before he could do anything more their downward trajectory had reached the Jungle´s canopy. Blu was forced to release his grip before they both collided with the trees, letting the other Macaw continue his fall & starting to hit & crack the branches one after other. Blu watched helplessly as this red Macaw continued falling until he fell into a creek with a splash. The other bird was then quickly dragged under by the current.

Jewel heard the sound of the splash & flew in its direction, once there she saw Blu that was hovering over the creek & looking for something in the water. He then spotted her as she arrived. "Jewel, he fell into the water I can´t see him!" Blu said in a panicked voice. Jewel hurried to join him in his search & after some seconds Blu saw the Macaw bobbing up again in the current. "We have to rescue him before he drowns!" Blu said, & Jewel nodded as they both flew after him.

Jewel tried to grab the Macaw when he emerged from the water but the current pulled him down again. "He´s too heavy! Don´t try to grab him or you will be dragged down too, leave it to me!" Blu shouted, she nodded again & flew away, some seconds passed & the red Macaw came up to the surface again. Blu seized his chance, flew in his direction & completely focused on saving the bird he managed to grab him with his claws, & then using all his strength he pulled the bird out of the water.

"I got him Jewel!" Blu said relieved. Breathing heavily, he flapped his wings to take him & his wet, dripping passenger out from over the creek & back to dry land. Once over the riverside Blu started to land but the heavy sodden mass of the other Macaw slipped out of his grip. "No!" Blu exclaimed turning his head to one side & closing his eyes as the Macaw fell again & hit his head against a rock. He then slumped to the ground & lay motionless.

Jewel landed next to the red Macaw & began examining him with concern. "Congratulations Blu, if he had a chance of surviving, I think you reduced it to zero. I´m almost sure he´s dead." Jewel scolded him.

Blu was stung by her words. He landed & approached the sodden red Macaw. "What have I done?" he exclaimed sorrowfully & as carefully as possible rolled the other bird over onto his back. Blu desperately pushed his chest with his wings trying to imitate the resuscitation maneuvers he had read about many times before, and then he blew air into the Macaw´s beak. After repeating this process a few times he checked to see if the other Macaw was still breathing. He was thrilled to find that he was.

"He´s unconscious but breathing, badly injured but alive." Blu reported with some relief as his eyes took in all the all wounds the other Macaw had got.

"Yes, but he needs help now or he will not last for long." Jewel pointed out.

"You´re right, we must take him to Tulio, he will know what to do." Blu said firmly as he hovered over the unconscious Macaw, grabbed him carefully in his claws & lifted him up.

"Careful Blu. Do not drop him again, he has had enough for a day." Jewel scolded him a second time, Blu nodded with a serious face & they both took off in the Center´s direction as fast as they could.

* * *

It was almost night at the Conservation Center, Tulio & Linda were walking along a corridor; since Linda had decided to settle in Rio Tulio was helping her with the details, he had got permission to let Linda stay in a room at the Center for as long as she needed, after all it was the Center´s fault that Blu & Jewel were kidnapped the first day Blu arrived, something Tulio had argued with his superiors & they had finally given permission as a kind of compensation for the problems. He was also helping her with the adoption process of Fernando who had to stay in a house managed by the Brazilian government before he was able to live with Linda.

Tulio opened a door & showed Linda into a huge room where all Linda´s belongings that had been moved from Moose Lake were. "Here you go Linda." Tulio said. "This is all your furniture & other objects that you asked for, including your books of course. They can be stored here until your new Bookstore & Home are ready for you to move in."

"Wow..." Linda breathed, looking around. "It´s amazing. Everything is here, how did you do it so fast?" she asked as she placed a box she was carrying on the floor & started checking some other boxes & opening some books. "This is Blu´s favorite." she murmured.

Tulio smiled. "Well, I have my contacts in the government" He said. "So once I talked to them everything went smoothly." he said a little pompously.

Closing the box she had been looking in, Linda suddenly threw her arms around him in a warm hug. "Thanks for everything." she said.

"Oh, It´s...it's nothing, really." Tulio said, blushing. Linda disengaged the hug & Tulio smoothed down his shirt a little self-consciously. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked, as much to cover his embarrassment as anything.

"Of course Tulio." Linda answered.

"What do you have inside that box?" Tulio asked.

Linda turned back to where the box was & opened it, beckoning Tulio over as she did so. Inside, Tulio saw some toys that confused him. "These are Blu's." she said holding up a toy car. "I brought them from Minnesota, he still played with them some weeks ago, he loves them & now he can fly he can enjoy them much more" she said.

"I understand." Tulio said "Macaws are known to play a lot & they need to be busy all the time." he said "But," he added. "I´m not sure why you wanted to bring Blu´s cage too?" he said pointing at the Wire Cage standing off to one side of the room.

Linda looked a little down. "Thanks again for all your help Tulio." she said as she adjusted her glasses & returned the toy to the box, closing it again. She took a deep breath before answering Tulio's question. "I asked for the cage because it brings back memories about my life with Blu. We used to be together all the time & now I barely see him. Oh, no! It's alright!" she added quickly as Tulio opened his mouth. "I knew this would happen & I´m not upset or anything. I know this is the best thing for him & I'm glad he's got the life he deserves." she sighed. "It's just...I feel like I've lost a valuable part of my own life. Do you see what I mean?"

Tulio looked sympathetic. "I understand Linda." He said. "It's always hard to let go of someone you love, even if you know it's for the best." He paused as Linda just nodded slowly, & then he went on: "I´m sorry for asking that, I didn't want to make you feel bad." Tulio apologized.

"Don´t worry about it." Linda reassured him. "I need to overcome that & I´m sure it's all for Blu´s well-being."

"I know you´ll feel better once you see the chicks, something that should happen soon." Tulio said, trying to cheer her up.

Sure enough, Linda's face brightened. "Oh yes, I'd really love to see them."

"Oh, by the way" Tulio said. "I have to tell you…" he was suddenly interrupted by a sound coming from outside the room. He & Linda exchanged glances. "Did you hear that? I think there´s someone else here." Tulio said as he exited the room back into the corridor. Linda followed him.

The Center was almost empty, there wasn't supposed to be anyone else there at that time other than Sylvio, The guard at the front entrance. Sometimes in the past Tulio had scolded a researcher for being at the Center during the night but he was sure everyone else had already left, so he was worried there could be a trespasser.

Tulio finally found where the sound was coming from, a window on the corridor that was being continuously knocked. "Linda, It´s coming from that window." Tulio said as he grabbed a stick. They both headed cautiously to the window & suddenly they heard a squawk making them exchange puzzled looks. Tulio then opened the window & through the dusk they saw it was Blu & Jewel right outside, looking up at them.

Linda quickly found her voice "Blu, Jewel, I´m very happy to see you, but what are you doing here so late? It´s almost night time."

Blu moved aside & pointed with his primary feather at the unconscious Macaw lying on the ground behind him.

"It´s a Macaw, a male one." Tulio exclaimed.

"Blu!" Linda said shocked. "What happened to him?" she asked as Tulio quickly hopped out of the window to come to the Macaws side.

Blu looked distressed, but Tulio spoke up before he could even attempt to explain. "Meu deus, this Macaw is in a terrible condition." He exclaimed as he examined him. "He's been injured, has weak breathing & is probably in great pain, but we can save him if we move quickly." He continued as he quickly but carefully scooped up the bird. He handed him off to Linda through the window, & upon he, Blu & Jewel then entering the Center through the window, he reclaimed the bird & then ran to the treatment room; Linda, Blu & Jewel following him.

Tulio placed the Macaw on a table & upon rapidly donning his coat & gloves he set to work, starting the treatment. He had to use many medicines to stabilize the bird, constantly checking his vital signs as he did so. "Come on, you can resist!" Tulio muttered as he began on the cleaning & patching of the birds wounds. He was putting in his all to save the Macaws life. Many times in the past he had to work under pressure to save a birds life, which was something that gave him great satisfaction & was one of the reasons he had gone into this line of work. But every time it was a new challenge & this case wasn't an exception, having a life on his hands was something he didn't enjoy but the results of most of the cases were successful & he would give his all make sure that this was no different.

After an hour of tense work, Tulio finally straightened up, his shoulders visibly relaxing. "The danger has passed." he said. He then sighed & finished up, carefully bandaging the Macaw's wings & legs & giving him some more medicine.

Tulio had asked Linda & the blue Macaws to stay on the side-lines since the procedure was quite delicate, so she was sitting on a chair watching Tulio working & the blue Macaws were perched on another chair doing the same. Linda turned address the pair. "So you found him, right Blu?" Linda asked & Blu nodded, clearly tired. "Did you carry him all the way here?" she said, looking concerned. He nodded again. "Oh, poor Blu. You must be exhausted." she said sympathetically & stroking his head. Blu looked like he enjoyed the affection, but Linda stopped when she noticed Jewel glaring at them disapprovingly.

"What happened to him?" Linda asked. Blu only shrugged. "I see, & do you know him?" she asked again & Blu shook his head. "So you haven´t seen him before." She said thoughtfully as she turned her gaze back to Tulio, still working over his patient. "It´s a red Macaw but he doesn't look like any of the others I've seen around." Linda continued.

"It´s because the red Macaws you commonly see are Ara Chloropterus or green-winged Macaws, but this one is an Ara Macao or Scarlet Macaw." Tulio interjected without looking up. "The main difference between them as you can see is the color on the middle of their wing feathers. While the green-winged Macaw has obviously a green color the scarlet Macaw has a yellow color instead." Tulio said as he pointed his finger to the unconscious Macaw´s wing, pointing out his coloration. Tulio suddenly stopped what he was doing & leaned in for a closer look. "Wow!" he exclaimed, startling all in the room.

"What? What is it Tulio?" Linda asked leaning forward.

"He´s not only a Scarlet Macaw" Tulio excitedly answered. "He's a subspecies, an Ara Macao Macao."

"And why is that so important?" Linda asked. She knew a fair bit about Macaws, but this was outside her sphere of knowledge.

Tulio pointed to the unconscious bird's wing again. "Look, in addition to his yellow feathers he has green ones just here." Tulio said. "In fact, this kind of Macaw is seldom seen around Rio. They typically live from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia & north of Brazil. Even for me is very rare to see one of them frequently. At the Sanctuary we only have 2 Scarlet Macaws registered for this area but none like him."

"Yes, we know them. Ana & Juan." Blu spoke up, but of course Linda & Tulio just heard a squawk.

Jewel gave him an amused look. "Blu, they can´t understand us, remember?" she said, almost laughing.

"Oh, so you know them Blu?" Linda said. Blu nodded & gave Jewel a smug look. She huffed & turned her head away.

"Since Blu & Jewel don't know him; that means this is a new bird in the area." Tulio said. "That still leaves more questions, where did he come from? & what happened to him?" he mused & continued checking the Macaw´s wounds.

None of the others in the room had an answer for that, so they remained silent. After a few more moments of activity over the red Macaw, Tulio straightened up. "Well, I think that's all I can do." he said as he moved away from the table. "Fortunately, miraculously I'd say, he didn't get a single fracture. Apparently he only got many cuts & some sprains especially the one of his right leg, it's very swollen. Probably he got struck with a branch or hit something very hard in order to have this kind of injury." He paused briefly & glanced back at his patient with a furrowed brow. "Something that worries me more though is that blow he got to his head." he said.

Blu lowered his head & looked ashamed, something that Linda noticed.

"Do you know something about that Blu?" Linda asked him & Blu nodded sheepishly. "You hit his head when you rescued him. Am I right?" She said & Blu covered his head with his wings, a guilty gesture that Linda recognized immediately. He had looked much the same after the Park Incident.

"Don´t blame yourself Blu, I´m sure it was an accident, & if you hadn't been there he probably wouldn't be alive, I'm sure he´ll thank you when he wakes up." Linda said reassuringly.

"The medicine I used on him is in effect, all we can do is to wait & see if he wakes up…" Tulio stopped when he noticed Blu giving him a scared look. "…which I'm sure he will soon." he added & took off his gloves as Blu looked relieved.

Linda glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's really late. I think it´s time to sleep." Linda said. "I´ll be staying in upstairs room again, right Tulio?"

"Of course Linda you can use it all the time you need." He answered. "I got authorization for that." He was interrupted by a large yawn. "I think I´ll turn in too, I´m exhausted."

Linda turned to the blue Macaws. "So, Blu, Jewel, are you staying here tonight? It is very dark outside." Linda said. Then Blu gave Jewel a pleading look.

"Noting it," she said. "Well...OK, but just for today." So Blu turned back to Linda & nodded.

"Excellent, would you like to stay upstairs with me?" Linda asked. Blu shook his head. "You're staying here to look after your new friend then?" Blu nodded & Linda looked pleased. "Oh, that's so sweet Blu. I'm sure he'll appreciate that." She got up off of the chair & gently stroked his head again. Blu looked happy, while Jewel just rolled her eyes. "If you need something I´ll be upstairs OK?" Linda said & Blu nodded. "Good night you 2. Take good care of your new friend." She added as she & Tulio exited the room.

As the footsteps of the 2 Humans faded, Blu & Jewel then flew across to the table where the Scarlet Macaw was lying. As they looked down at his peacefully sleeping form, Blu said. "Wow, it was hard to carry him all the way here; I wish he'd wake up soon, I´m curious to know what happened to him."

"If he wakes up, you mean." Jewel said looking at Blu sidelong.

Blu met her gaze but answered defensively. "Why do you say that?"

"Because of the blow you gave him on the head, I thought that would be the end of him." Jewel reminded him.

Blu groaned. "Thanks Jewel, now I won't be able to sleep for guilt". He turned his attention back to the red Macaw. "Come on guy you must wake up, you have to live." he urged to the Macaw, who was barely breathing.

"He's out of it Blu. We'll just have to leave him be for now." Jewel said, looking down at him. She then turned & gave Blu a sly look. "Guilty feelings aside for a moment however, you & I have other issues to talk about." she said.

Blu didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean Jewel?" he asked, trying not look uncomfortable.

Jewel stared at Blu, not angrily, but in a way Blu hadn't seen her look at him before.

"Blu, would you mind having kids?" She asked suddenly.

Blu was stunned by her question. As he tried to get his mind & mouth working again, Jewel went on: "Just look at Rafael & his family." she said. "They're happy, maybe his kids are very naughty, but they're very happy." she said softly.

What should I do? What should I say? Blu thought. He knew that this would come up eventually, hey, it was one of the main reasons they had been introduced to one another. Somehow he had always thought he would be ready for when the subject came up. But he didn't feel ready. He was suddenly startled out of that thought when Jewel hugged him.

"Jewel, please not now, can we talk about it later, not in front of him." Blu said.

Still hugging him, Jewel gave him an amused look. "I don't think he'll complain Blu. He's unconscious." Jewel said.

"Well...um..." Blu cast his mind around for an excuse. "Maybe...maybe I should go find some food. You know, in case this guy wakes up? Is that OK?" Blu asked while he was trying to gently release himself from Jewel's hug.

"Not until you promise that we´ll have kids." She said firmly, holding onto him.

This time Blu had nowhere to run, but he had a sudden idea. He looked up over Jewel's head. "Oh Linda! Did you forget something?" He said brightly.

"What?" Jewel said as she released Blu from her hug & turned towards the door. There was no-one there.

Realizing she had been tricked, Jewel snapped her head back. "Blu!" she shouted as she saw him flying off from the table. "You shouldn't trick me like that!" she said as she began to chase after him.

"Sorry Jewel! I'm not ready yet!" Blu called as he flew around the room, harder & faster than Jewel until she finally gave up due to the fatigue.

"Fine...fine." She said, out of breath as she landed again on the table. "You...you do whatever...whatever you want." She panted as she tried to recover her composure. She gave Blu an irked look. "But mark my words, buster, I'll have the last laugh." She took a deep breath & then said in a calmer tone. "We´ll talk about that later, go on & get that food you were talking about."

From his safe perch across the room, Blu nodded & after recovering his breath (he was winded too, just not as much as Jewel) he flew towards the food storage area. _I´m safe for now but I have to think on an emergency plan before she tries chasing me again_. He thought to himself. When he reached the storage room he saw many crates with different types of fruit. _Wow, this place is very well supplied; I could eat a different fruit every day for weeks_. He thought. "I'm sure they won't miss two or three pieces." He said as grabbed some mangoes & flew back to the treatment room.

"Here's dinner!" Blu announced as he put the three mangoes on the table "Something new from our friend?" He asked.

"He´s breathing, that´s all I can say about him." Jewel answered. She gave Blu a searching look. "I think you can´t see how bad he really is, can you? I don't think he'll be awake for some time." she continued as she grabbed one mango & Blu did the same. The 2 dug into their food, finishing up rapidly as they were hungry. As she finished her mango Jewel eyed the 3rd one Blu had brought along. "I suppose you brought that for him?" she asked.

"Yes, just in the case he wakes up & is hungry." Blu said.

"Well, suit yourself, but I don´t believe he will wake up anytime soon." Jewel insisted. We should get some sleep too." She added as she flew off & perched on a railing. She looked back at him. "Are you coming? I won´t bite... today." she finished with a humorous tone.

"Yeah, sure." Blu said & carefully joined her.

"Good night Blu." she said & then stuck her head into her wing.

"Good night Jewel." Blu said. He glanced across at the sleeping red macaw on the table. "Good night new friend." he muttered as he closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**After a long night, the mysterious macaw will meet his saviors and some new friends.**

* * *

**Chapter II**

All was confusion, there was noise & screams everywhere, he didn't know what was happening, someone yelled but he couldn't understand any words. Suddenly he realized he was falling & saw that the ground was rapidly approaching, but he couldn't move. It was his end. Just before he hit the ground however, his eyes snapped open.

He was lying on his front breathing heavily, he tried to raise his head but then felt a pain that forced him to remain in his original position, in fact all his body was in pain & not only that, he was largely immobilized. He tried to scan the area but his eyes were unfocused & he only saw blurred images. Then he heard a conversation.

"Look he´s awake & he seems to be scared." Someone said. "I told you he would survive." the voice continued with a note of smugness in it.

"I never said that he would die!" Another voice shot back quickly. It went on in a more normal tone. "I said that he would need a few days more to wake up, & now I think he´ll need at least that time to manage to get back on his legs. And why did you bring more food?" It continued. "He probably won´t be able to eat or even speak, at least for a while."

"I´m pretty sure he´s starving, so I got a plenty of mangoes so he could eat without restrictions." Then the voice addressed him. "Hey buddy, are you all right?"

His eyes finally focused on the image he was seeing & he blinked. He identified the ones who were talking, two blue Macaws, a male & a female, who were conversing in front of him. With some effort he managed to mutter some words that the birds weren't able to understand & gave him puzzled looks. He then cleared his throat & tried again. "Sorry." he managed to say, leaning his head a little to allow him to speak better. "I suppose you can´t understand me if I´m face down, right?" he said & both Macaws nodded. He managed to turn his head to a position that would allow him to speak. "There...now, that's better." he continued. He then eyed the 2 Macaws, who were waiting for him to go on. "Say...uh, can you tell me where I am? & what happened to me? I´m a little lost." he asked.

"Well, I can tell you where you are & what we saw about what happened." The male blue Macaw said. "You see, yesterday we were in the jungle & then we saw you falling, I tried to grab you but we hit some trees before I could stop your fall & you fell into a creek. We managed to rescue you from the water." he said.

"If you call hitting his head against a rock rescuing." the female blue Macaw muttered. The male gave her an irritated look.

"Anyways..." the male said. "How do you feel?"

"I feel like if I were squeezed, used as a punching bag & thrown away, plus I feel something weird in my limbs." he said as he tried to stand up but slumped over on his face. "Ow!" he squawked due to the pain.

"Hey, now take it easy." The male blue Macaw said with concern. "You don´t want to make your wounds worse." Seeing the logic in that statement, he relaxed, trying not move.

"Hey, I don't think we've been introduced." the male said. "Hi, my name is Blu, you know like the color, just drop the ´e´ when you write it down, OK?" he said humorously.

"I´m Jewel. Nice to meet you." the female spoke up. "So can you tell us your name?" she asked.

My name? He thought a little confused. Suddenly however, the answer popped into his mind. "Oh yes, you can call me Rob." he said.

"Nice to meet you Rob." Blu said.

"Where did you come from?" Jewel asked bluntly.

Blu shot her a look. "Jewel! You need to be more polite." he exclaimed.

Rob remained frozen some seconds as he tried to process what Jewel had just said. "I…I would like to answer that question but I can´t." Blu & Jewel gave him puzzled looks at this answer. "I...I can't remember where I'm from. In fact, I can´t remember almost anything." Rob said, looking completely lost.

"Great. You have amnesia." Jewel said sarcastically. She turned to Blu. "See Blu? if you hadn't dropped him he wouldn't have this problem." she said as Blu looked distressed.

"I'm sorry Rob please forgive me this is all my fault I feel terrible about this, I don´t know what to do!" Blu said in a panicked voice, sounding on the verge on hyperventilation.

Rob hurried to reassure him. "Hey! Hey, calm down, I´m OK, & I think if you hadn't rescued me I would be dead by now." He paused as a gratified expression came across Blu's face & then went on: "Evaluating the situation, losing my memory isn't so bad compared to the alternatives." Rob said & sighed. He then leaned his head over the table again. Fatigue from his experience was catching up to him.

"Good morning everyone!" a new voice was heard as the door opened & 2 Humans came in. Blu & Jewel greeted them, a greeting they heard as a squawk.

"So, I see he is awake, great, you´re a real fighter." the male Human said as he approached Rob to check on him.

"Hey who are you? What are you going to do? Go away!" Rob said, scared as he tried to move away from the human, but his body barely responded.

"Hey, don´t worry!" Blu said quickly & reassuringly. "He is the one who aided you last night. I assure you that you can trust him, despite the fact he can´t understand us."

Rob then stopped moving & gave shot Blu an uncertain look, flicking his gaze back & forth between the Macaw & the Human, who for his part was just standing there smiling, apparently letting the Macaws converse. "Are you sure?" he asked & Blu nodded. Rob then relaxed & allowed the Human to approach him.

After some minutes of checking & treatment he said "OK, that´s it, with that anesthetic you will be able to move without pain, I removed some of the bandages too. I only left the ones on your wings, head & legs, just don´t make too much effort or the wounds will open again." he cautioned.

Rob then attempted to stand up, but his body felt numb. At his first attempt he collapsed. He then tried again a few moments later & collapsed again. He then tried for a 3rd time with the same result.

"Maybe we should..." the female Human began as she took a step forward but the male stopped her.

"Wait. Give him a chance." He said softly.

It looked like Rob was very persistent because he tried again & again, Jewel had to restrain herself from laughing at his funny attempts. Finally he managed to get up & stand on his legs, though he was a little wobbly. He then started to check out his wings that had bandages around them covering all his yellow feathers & many of the green ones too, he flexed his wings a little, almost losing his balance again. "Wow. I don´t feel anything." he said.

The female human then came closer & greeted him "Hello, my name is Linda & he is Tulio." she said introducing them both.

"Nice to meet you." Rob said, though based on what Blu & Jewel had said he knew they would hear it as a squawk.

"Can you tell us your name?" Linda asked. Hearing this, Blu quickly flew to a desk & picked up a notepad & a pen in his beak, obviously with the intention of writing them a note with Rob's name. He then flew back to the table near Rob.

Before he could use the pen however, Rob picked it up. "Thanks Blu." He said as he gripped the pen carefully with his still swollen claw & moved it towards the notepad, barely maintaining his balance as he did so. Blu looked surprised & started to say something, but stopped when Rob started to write.

´Hi, my name is Rob.´ he wrote. Everyone´s eyes opened wide. "You can write!" Humans & Macaws exclaimed at the same time they watched the note that wouldn´t get a calligraphy prize, but was understandable after all.

Rob gave them all a puzzled look. "Of course I can." he said.

"When I talked to you about how to write my name it was only a joke." Blu said. "But now I can see you can really do it!" he finished in an excited tone.

"This is wonderful! I thought Blu was the only one who could write, nice to meet you Rob." Linda said, her voice sounding like Blu's.

Tulio's eyes gleamed with interest. "I think he's trained." he said.

"So he was a pet too." Jewel said.

Blu looked at her, irked. "What do you mean with that Jewel?" He said.

"That´s the word you use when a bird lives with a Human, isn't it?" She said, teasing Blu.

"I've told you before Jewel. I was a Companion." Blu said firmly & with dignity.

"Whatever you say, Companion." Jewel finished, still teasing Blu.

"Anyways." Blu said & turned to Rob. "It´s great you can write, that means you can read too right? If I may ask, where did you learn?" Blu said.

"Yes, I can read." Rob answered. "But I can´t remember where or how I learned." Rob said as he looked a little down.

"OK, that's enough emotion for now." Tulio said. "You need to rest Rob, to help your recovery." He glanced at the mangoes on the side table. "I see Blu got some food for you. Right Blu?" Blu nodded. "OK then. We´ll leave you alone so you can eat. Try not to disturb our friend too much, understand?" he addressed the blue Macaws & they nodded in response. They then left the room with waves back at them, which Blu & Jewel returned but Rob could not even if he wanted to because of his injuries.

"All right Rob." Blu said. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Of course, I´m starving. I feel as if I hadn't eaten in years." Rob said still trying to maintain his balance & avoid falling.

"Then this is just what the doctor ordered, I brought plenty of food." Blu said as he gave Rob one mango which he grabbed with his claw. Blu & Jewel took a bite of their fruit; Rob watched them & did the same.

Rob eyes opened wide as if he had had a revelation, Blu & Jewel looked at him puzzled. "It's...it's good! It's so good!" Rob said as he sank his beak inside the mango which was quickly swallowed as he grabbed another & did the same. He then stopped as he saw that Blu & Jewel were staring at him. "Oh...Sorry about that, I got carried away." he said ashamed.

"Don´t worry about it." Blu said waving his wing dismissively.

"Now I´m sure he was a ´Companion´" Jewel said, making air quotes with her wing feathers. "You did the same thing Blu."

"I´m glad I'm not the only bird that behaved like that" Blu said.

"Anyways, I don´t know what came over me." Rob said while he was rubbing with his wing some pieces of mango from his beak.

"Easy, I think you haven't tasted it before & it moved you. That's what also makes us think you've never been in the wild." Blu explained.

Rob frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose so, but I can´t remember it, it´s like I've only lived for the last hour. I don't have any more memories." Rob said, sounding a little down.

Blu reacted quickly to his tone. "Hey, Relax." He said reassuringly. "I´m sure you´ll recover it all sooner or later, & we expect it will be sooner."

"I expect so too." Jewel said. She then shot Blu a meaningful look. "But Rob, if you'll excuse us, Blu & I need to get back to our Hollow. We have some...affairs to sort out." she stated.

"Oh...Y...Yes. Right." Blu said as he gave Rob a scared look. Rob just looked at him puzzled.

"OK, we know you need to rest so we´ll leave you in peace." Jewel said. "Be sure to do everything they say, they may be humans, but they know what they're doing when it comes to injured birds. Trust me on that." Jewel added over her shoulder as she began to tow a reluctant Blu towards the door.

Rob just nodded, confused.

"I...I think we´ll see you later!" Blu called as Jewel practically dragged him out of the room.

After they had left, Rob leaned his head on the table & took a look around the room. He saw medical equipment & cages, obviously he was in a kind of hospital for birds. He tried to remember what had happened to him, but his memory from before his accident was a blank. All he knew was that he had woken up on a table, spoken with two blue birds who claimed to have saved his life & then met two Humans who had aided him with the wounds he had sustained from his fall.

But what was I doing? Rob asked himself. Where was I going? What happened? Where did I come from?

Rob shook his head slightly at his lack of answers. I'm even not sure what I am. He thought as he rolled his eyes & looked over his bandaged & still numbed wings. He used his beak to lift the bandage, revealing colored feathers going from red, passing to yellow then green & ending with blue. He let go, letting the bandage fall back into place & then looked to the metal table where he could see his own reflection. He saw that he had some wounds on his face just as over most of his body. Upon examining himself carefully, he saw that when he tried to move his legs & claws, the left one moved without problems but the right one was swollen. In spite of that he managed to close his claw just like he did before when he wrote his name.

After all his checking he got to the obvious conclusion that he was a red Macaw. Well at least I know what I am, I´m making some progress. He thought wryly. As he was still feeling some pain, he put his examinations on hold for now as he tried to rest.

His rest didn't last long however. Scarcely a few moments passed before he heard footsteps approaching, & as he looked up he saw Tulio enter the room.

The human smiled warmly at him. "Well Rob, I see Blu & Jewel have left. Let´s move you to the recovery room so you can rest a little more comfortably." He moved closer, & although Rob still felt a little uncertain, he remembered what Jewel had said. He allowed Tulio to gently pick him up without any fuss. Tulio smiled at his co-operative manner & then carefully carried him out of the room. He carried Rob along a large passage & entered into another room that was full of cages. The cages were filled with a great selection of birds: small & big, yellow & red, blue & yellow, the list could keep going & going due to the variety. Rob felt the gazes of all the birds in the room on him.

Tulio walked along the room until he reached a group of cages at the back. He opened the biggest one & carefully placed Rob inside, letting him lie on the cage´s floor. He then closed the door & said: "Here you go. Now, try to get some sleep & if you feel better you can interact with the other birds. Don't worry, they won´t bite you." he added humorously. "I´ll be back later to see how you're doing." Tulio gave Rob another warm & reassuring smile, & then walked back out of the room.

Rob shuffled across to a corner of the cage, then leaned his head back again, closed his eyes & tried to get back to sleep, but Tulio's words suddenly sounded again in his head. Other birds? He thought as he raised his head again & looked around the huge cage. His eyes stopped on a blue silhouette perching on the other side of the cage. It was watching him.

As he met the blue figure's gaze it spoke up. "It´s the first time I've seen someone in that condition." It said, appearing to be examining him with its gaze. "I don´t want to bother you but would you mind telling me what happened to you?"

"I don´t know." Rob answered the figure. "The only thing I remember is waking up here in bandages & in quite a lot of pain."

"That´s something I can see clearly." The voice exclaimed. "Whatever happened to you, looks like it was something really bad." The voice lapsed into silence for a moment, the figure appearing to be in thought. It then went on: "Maybe a predator attacked you or a smuggler tried to catch you. As you should know, your species is known to be worth a fortune to Humans."

"My species?" Rob asked as he focused his sight & realized that the figure talking to him was a blue Macaw, though he was much bigger than Blu or Rob himself. He also had a yellow color around his eyes & beneath his beak, which marked him as a different species than Blu & Jewel.

"Of course kid." The Macaw responded to his question. "In case you didn't know, Macaws like you are captured by Humans to have them as pets." He then gave Rob another appraising look. "So...you don´t know anything about what happened to you?" he queried.

Rob shook his head. "I can´t remember what happened. All I know is what two blue Macaws told me about. They said I was falling from the sky, unconscious. I hit some branches & fell into a creek that they rescued me from, but as they did so my head got accidentally hit on a rock, which is why I can't remember anything." Rob finished.

"Those blue Macaws you said are smaller than us?" the other Macaw asked.

"Yes, a little." Rob answered.

"They must be Blu & Jewel." the other Macaw stated.

"Yes, those are their names. Do you know them?" Rob asked.

"Oh yes. I met them the first day they arrived to the Sanctuary. Interesting fact by the way, they're the last of their kind." He added.

Rob was rather taken aback by this information. "Wow, the last? You mean, in the world? That must tough on them." Rob said, impressed.

The other Macaw nodded soberly. "Yes, it is. They are the last Spix Macaws on Earth. Or at least, as far as anyone knows." He added. "There might be an isolated colony here or there, but if there is, no-one knows about it. For all intents & purposes, they're the last. Of course, we're endangered too, but not nearly as much as they are." he said.

"We?" Rob asked, puzzled.

The other Macaw gave him a curious look. "Of course. We're both endangered species too. I'm a Hyacinth Macaw, & just in case you'd forgotten I'll tell you; you are a green-winged Macaw."

Rob took another look at his bandaged wings. "I see. In fact, I think I can guess where the name comes from." He said humorously, looking at the green feathers peeking out from under his bandages. He briefly wondered why his kind would be called that if they had yellow feathers too, but dismissed it as unimportant.

The Hyacinth Macaw chuckled a little at that, & then gave him a quick once-over with his gaze. "Yes...well, I would say you'd probably be classified as a perfect specimen too." He stated. "Just a little mistreated." he added.

"Classified? By who?" Rob asked.

"The researchers that work here." The Hyacinth Macaw answered. "You've already met one of them, he´s the boss of all the researchers. They work to protect the environment, especially birds, because as I told you before, we are worth a fortune for smugglers. That´s why they created this Center of Conservation for taking care of birds & the Sanctuary out there where all of us live." he said as he pointed at the window with his wing.

Rob nodded in comprehension. "Oh, I see" he said, but then a doubt assaulted him. "Hey, wait...Sorry to ask, but you don't look injured or sick. Why are you here?" Rob asked.

The Macaw looked at him, looked to one side & then to the other, finally he carefully fluttered down from his perch & approached him. "Well, I think it isn't visible but I´m recovering." he said to Rob in a low voice. "I had an incident some days ago, you see."

"What kind of incident?" Rob asked curiously.

"Have you ever heard of a fruit called Avocado?" The Macaw asked.

Despite his blank memory, the word stirred some vague recollection. "Yes, I have." Rob answered.

The Hyacinth Macaw nodded. "Well, if you see it" he said mysteriously. "NEVER, & I said NEVER, eat it."

"Why?" Rob asked curiously.

"It's toxic for Macaws" he answered simply. "I learned that the hard way." He sighed, & then went on: "I usually eat nuts or other fruits, but once when I was flying over the city I saw someone had dropped one of those black fruits." the Macaw said. "I've always been curious about new things, especially food, so I landed near the fruit & without thinking I buried my beak in it. It´s flavor was quite interesting, but unlike the normal fruits it wasn't sweet." he said. "Anyways, after that I returned to my hollow with my family, all was fine but my stomach started to hurt." He grimaced. "It was like a punishment. You can´t imagine the pain I felt." he said. "Seeing that something was wrong with me, my family & friends got me here, then the researchers found me & treated me. It was a terrible stomachache, but of course I couldn't tell them that. Fortunately they figured it out quickly & once they realized I was poisoned, they knew what medicine to give me. And here I am, just about fully recovered." The Macaw finished. "My family was so worried about me when I was ill. I want to be released soon so I can tell them I´m OK." he said.

"Wow, you've suffered a lot." Rob said.

"Yes, but don't worry, I´m fine now kid!" he said cheerfully & using his wing to give Rob a slap on the back.

"OW!" Rob exclaimed.

The Hyacinth Macaw jerked back & immediately looked apologetic. "Oh! I'm sorry kid. I didn't know that would hurt." he said. "You OK?"

Rob opened his beak to reply in the affirmative, but was interrupted by a voice coming from a nearby cage. "Hey, what was that? Everything OK in there?" The 2 of them looked over to see a female bird who had come up to the other cage´s bars, peering through at them. "Was that you?" She asked Rob. "You seem to be pretty injured."

"I´m fine, it just hurts when touched." Rob said as he looked at the blue & black bird looking at him with concern.

"Poor you. But don´t worry, you´ll be fine here, the Humans here will make you feel brand new" she said confidently.

They were suddenly interrupted by a female voice from an upper cage. "Can everyone shut up down there? I´m tired of your annoying talk & the little baby´s moans!" The voice exclaimed.

"Hey, take it easy, our new friend here doesn´t feel too good." The blue & black bird shouted back at the voice. She looked back down at Rob. "Don´t listen to her. That's Ruby & she's a Grump." she said.

"Come & tell me that to my face." Ruby's voice came again, sounding irked, Rob rolled his eyes to the upper cage to see that Ruby was a female red Macaw, apparently a green-winged one. He also noticed something weird on both of her wings; some of her feathers were missing, probably caused by a disease.

"I don´t have anything to say to you." The blue & black bird called up one more time to Ruby, sounding vexed. She then turned to Rob & returned to her previous calm mood. "Just don´t pay any attention to her." she muttered.

A thought appeared to strike the Hyacinth Macaw. "Hey, now that I realize it, we´ve been talking for a while & haven´t introduced ourselves." He said to Rob. "My name's Felipe, it's nice to meet you." He added with a slight bow of his head.

"Yeah, where are my manners." The blue & black bird said. "I´m Sophia but you can call me Sophie, & I´m an Azure Jay, just in case you didn´t know." She added smiling.

"I expect you can remember your name at least" Felipe said to Rob curiously.

Rob nodded. "Yes, of course. Sorry for being rude, my name is Rob. It's nice to meet you Felipe, nice to meet you Sophie." he nodded to each one in turn & they nodded back, but Rob also turned his head back in the direction of the bird in the cage above. "It's nice to meet you Ruby."

Ruby looked surprised. She obviously hadn't expected a greeting. However, she just huffed & turned around.

Felipe then spoke again. "Well Rob, I think we´ve disturbed you enough, we´ll let you sleep. I suppose you're sleepy due to the medicine you've been given." Felipe said as looked at Rob, who was barely keeping his eyes open.

Rob made to answer was interrupted by a large yawn. He just nodded, & Felipe chuckled. "I´ll stay here looking at you while you sleep." He said with a sly look.

That was enough to jerk Rob back to temporary wakefulness as he looked at Felipe with wide eyes, rather taken aback. Felipe chuckled. "Don´t worry kid. I was just teasing you, I won´t do anything." he said.

"Felipe." Sophie scolded him. "You shouldn't be so mean." She then turned to Rob. "Don't worry Rob. Like I said, you can feel safe here." She said reassuringly.

Rob relaxed. "OK" He said. "That´s comforting, thank you." As he once again succumbed to the sedative effect of his medication, he leaned his head over his wing & closed his eyes, preparing for sleep.

"Sweet dreams" Sophie said. Rob gave a vague nod, but he was already drifting off & in very short order he was asleep.

The 2 other birds watched him for a few minutes, neither saying anything as they didn't want to disturb him falling asleep. Once he was well under though, Sophie said: "Is he not cute?" she said softly.

Felipe gave her an amused look. "If you say so." He said.

"Of course he is." Sophie stated. "I´ve never seen a red Macaw so near before, his feathers are beautiful. Also, he seems to be very nice." she said as rolled her eyes upwards watching Ruby peeking out from her cage who immediately hid when she realized she was discovered. "At least not all the red Macaws are hateful." she said as glanced once more in the direction of Ruby´s cage.

"Red Macaw is an imprecise way to call them, there are two kinds of red Macaws." Felipe said.

Sophie gave him an interested look. "Really?"

"Yes. If you want to name his species correctly you have to call him Green-winged Macaw. Look at his green feathers, they're the same as Ruby up there so they´re the same species." Felipe said. There was a brief noise from Ruby's cage, causing Felipe & Sophie to exchange looks. Felipe continued: "That´s the way to know the difference with the other species that have yellow feathers instead, in that case the name is the Scarlet Macaw." He finished.

Sophie gave him an impressed look. "You seem to know a lot about them Felipe. Where did you learn to recognize them? I thought all were equal. She asked.

Felipe gave her a smile. "Let´s just say that my family & I are close to one of them." His smile turned wistful for a moment. "I wonder how she is…" but his wistful moment didn't last long. "Anyway, we've learned a lot." He said, returning to his previous manner.

Sophie nodded, curious about what Felipe was talking about, but too polite to press it. "I think we learn something new every day." She said instead.

"I´ll say." Felipe answered "I been here some days & I didn´t even know there was another Macaw in the upper cage until you told me yesterday." he said with a low voice.

Sophie matched his low tones. "She´s been there for a long time, even before any of us arrived. She neither makes noises nor talks to anyone. She only remains hunkered in a corner all day." She muttered.

Felipe looked distressed. "That´s very sad, what could be the reason for that behaviour?" He asked.

Sophie shook her head. "I don´t know." She then paused with a frown on her brow. "But it is weird that she started to speak now after all this time." She said.

After a short silence Sophie returned her gaze to Rob. "What do you think happened to him?" she asked as they both looked at him as he slept soundly.

Felipe shook his head. "We can imagine hundreds of possible events, but the answer is buried somewhere in his mind." He said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter, let's see how Blu handles his fears.**

* * *

**Chapter III**

Blu shot out of the entrance of his Hollow, pumping his wings madly & flying as if he was being chased by a Predator, a frightened expression on his face.

It was no Predator, but instead a shout that chased him as he flew rapidly away.

"Blu, get your tail feathers back here right now!" Jewel shouted after him, popping her head out of the hollow & looking around, but just missing seeing in which direction Blu had flown off in.

Jewel huffed, looking annoyed. But as she took a deep, calming breath, a smile spread across her face. _Don't worry Blu, I have a plan, I'll catch you sooner or later_. She thought as she spread her own wings & took off towards her own destination.

* * *

As Blu flew through the Jungle, he risked a glance back & confirmed that Jewel wasn´t following him, but he knew that wouldn't last long.

_I don´t know why she doesn´t understand I´m not ready_. Blu thought, but he knew that he couldn't run (or fly) away forever. He had to think of a way of dealing with this.

As Blu racked his brain for a solution, an idea came to him. Rafael. _I'll go ask him for help_. He quickly concluded as he angled his flight towards the Toco Toucan's home & flew to find his friend.

On the way to see Rafael Blu took a moment to perch in a tree & muse about his situation. _What should I do? He thought. I love Jewel, and I´m sure she loves me, but this idea of having kids is so sudden, & she's acting so differently from her normal behavior_.

Blu was confused, since the day they fell in love, Jewel had apparently been showing her real self and putting aside her cold and selfish attitude that wasn´t needed anymore. She was being more affectionate and enjoying the freedom that she had always cherished & was the source of her happiness since they settled in the Sanctuary. But now, she had completely forgotten about those issues. A little time before Blu had suggested they go on one of their flying trips that she had always enjoyed & thought was one of the best things in the world; but she had dismissively rejected it and instead insisted on her petition. Something Blu wasn´t able to fulfil to her since the idea, or related word produced a feeling of terror inside him. He only wished everything could be like it had been the last months, he was happy with that, but also knew it couldn´t last forever.

Of course Jewel was behaving weird, but Blu realized his behavior wasn't logical either. Wasn´t that the reason for him coming to Rio? The reason he had almost died many times? The reason why he was on the verge of being smuggled away from Linda? Saving the Species. That the main reason why he was here. If anyone could think about the situation, it was completely illogical for Blu to fear something he was supposed to do since he, with Linda´s help, decided to go all the way from Minnesota to Rio. Now even flying looked like a walk in the park compared with being a father. The fear that gripped him at the prospect of fatherhood was different but no less intense than what he had felt at those times when he was trying to fly by running towards a table or cliff edge but had balked at the last moment, unable to throw himself off of that precipice.

"Why. Do. I. feel. This. Fear?" He asked himself as he punctuated each word by hitting his beak with his claw. So far, Jewel had been patient with him, but in time he had it in mind that his constant dodging of the issue would begin to wear on their relationship & Blu shuddered at the thought of a permanent wedge being driven between them.

As he perched on the branch frowning to himself, Blu came up with many thoughts but none of them helped him to overcome his distress. His feeling of fear was still there & we probably would need help from others after all. A psychologist would be perfect for him in this case, but there were two problems: where he could find one in the middle of the jungle and most important one who was able to understand him. He had a brief mental image of himself sprawled out on a leather couch, going on about his problems while a bearded human with glasses sat nearby, nodded seriously & scribbling in a notepad, but then he dismissed the absurd thought. This was serious, & it looked like his only practicable option was having a reassuring talk with his friend Rafael.

Blu gave firm nod, spread his wings & launching off of the branch, he resumed his flight towards Rafael's home. It was quite a distance though & as Blu still wasn't that used to flying, when he landed on a branch outside he was rather winded.

When Rafael heard someone was outside he immediately peered out from his hollow. His face lit up upon seeing Blu. "Hello amigo!" He said jovially, raising a wing in greeting. "What a wonderful surprise you visiting us." He then glanced around, obviously looking for someone. "Where´s Jewel?" he asked.

"That´s why I´m here." Blu said, recovering his breath.

Rafael immediately looked concerned. "Did something happen to her?" He asked worriedly.

"No, don´t worry. It isn't something like that." Blu said reassuringly. "I want to ask you for advice." he said.

Rafael's eye ridges rose slightly, but then he nodded. "Of course, I´ll be happy to help." He then fluttered out of his hollow & perched on the branch next to Blu.

Blu took a deep breath, but then found he wasn't sure where to start. "Well…you see…the thing is…that is to say…we…I…" He stopped, but then tried again. "The problem is that…" he began but he was interrupted.

"Jewel wants to have kids, that's it isn´t it?" Rafael said, a knowing look on his face.

Blu gave him a scared look. "How did you…?" he asked & then Rafael laughed.

"It´s written all over your face, I would recognize that expression everywhere, also I have to add this is the season when all the birds here pass through that. I only joined the two pieces together." Rafael said as Blu covered his head with his wing due to the shame.

"What should I do?" Blu asked, letting his eyes peek from his wings.

"Believe or not this is a very common situation." Rafael said. "Many couples have been separated because of that issue, take this as a warning; you´ll have to accept it sooner or later if you want to stay with Jewel. I can tell you…" he stopped suddenly. "Wait just a minute." Rafael asked with an annoyed look as he turned his head to see many Toucan kids standing on the branch just behind him and staring at both Blu and him.

Rafael turned & walked towards the Toucans, many of whom were giggling behind their wings. One of them flew over & stood on Rafael´s head, grinning mischievously down at his father. "I know what´re you thinking." Rafael said warningly to the youngster as he matched his gaze. "Don´t you dare." He said as he moved his wing slowly towards him, trying to grab his little offspring. "Ow!" Rafael exclaimed at the same time as the little toucan suddenly hit Rafael´s eye with his beak & zoomed off. "Great, you did it, I´m furious, that´s the only thing you´ve learned from your older siblings!" Rafael shouted, scaring the Toucans, who knew they finally teased him enough to affect his mood and stopped laughing, while the one responsible of his father´s wrath and his siblings returned to their hollow followed by Rafael who started a memorable scolding.

* * *

Jewel flew through the jungle; she was clearly searching for something or someone. After a long search she spotted something on the ground that apparently was what she was searching for. She carefully lowered her speed and landed.

She landed just in front of a group that immediately fixed their eyes on the unexpected visitor.

"Well, well." Said one of the group. "Look who it is. It´s been a while since the last time we met, isn´t it?"

In spite of the less than friendly tone the other was using, Jewel responded casually. "Some months I think. Of course, that was in a very different situation, I don´t even know your name." she added.

The Marmoset she was speaking to folded his arms. "I already know your name and your boyfriend´s, so fair's fair I guess. I´m Mauro, the leader of the marmoset clan." Mauro said as he moved his hand towards the other marmosets behind him, who were watching the exchange carefully.

"Fine, Mauro, I want to ask you how good are you and your friends on tracking?" Jewel asked.

Mauro stared at her, & then a wide smile came across his face. "Are you kidding?" he exclaimed. "We're the best, & you should know, we found you the last time." he added.

Jewel nodded. "Then you're just what I was looking for." She saw Mauro raise his eye ridge inquisitively, & went on: "I think you remember Blu, don't you?" She asked.

There was a flash of annoyance on Mauro's face. "I should think so. You don't easily forget someone who kicks you in the…" he began with some heat, but then cut himself off & pulled himself back together. "Ancient history now of course." He said pleasantly. "He's your boyfriend & was the other blue Macaw that that jerk Nigel forced us to look for, right?"

Jewel was secretly glad that Mauro had never found out that she was mainly responsible for that painful incident. "Yes, that's right." She said. "Well, since you don't work for him anymore, I have a job for you. I need all of you to search for Blu & bring him to me making sure he doesn´t escape." she said.

Mauro raised his eyes ridges in mild surprise, but then put his head on one side & stroked his chin, considering her offer. "Sure, we can do that, but…" He paused.

"What´s the matter?" Jewel said. She had hoped these Marmosets weren't the type to hold a grudge. Without Nigel's influence they had never seemed interested in exacting any kind of vengeance for their defeat at the club at the hands…err, wings of the birds.

"Easy." Mauro continued. He spread his arms to the watching group of Marmosets. "What's in it for us?" he asked.

There were a few murmurs of agreement & nodding of heads among the group. Jewel sighed and opened her claw revealing something that made Mauro´s eyes bright.

"Is it real?" Mauro asked staring at the item.

"I think so." Jewel said confused by his reaction. She knew the Marmosets liked shiny things, but the question of 'Real' had never occurred to her.

Mauro looked up at her, apparently seeing her confusion. "Ah…you don't know what that is, do you?" Mauro said as he approached to take a closer look at the object Jewel was holding, she held it back slightly.

"A ring." She answered simply.

Mauro chuckled. "It's not only a ring." He said. "It's a 24 karat Gold ring with a Sapphire embedded; it seems to be pretty old, probably the Eighteenth century" he said as looked back at the ring, seemingly fascinated.

"I see you know exactly what it is." Jewel said.

"Of course I do." Mauro said. "I´ve dedicated my life to collecting the rarest and exquisite pieces of jewelry, something that these boys can´t appreciate." He gave a sigh and gave the other marmosets a disappointed look. He then looked back at Jewel. "It´s a deal." He firmly stated.

Jewel nodded & closed her claw over the ring again. Mauro looked disappointed at seeing the ring disappear, however temporarily. He then spoke again. "I´m just being curious, where did you find that ring?"

"I didn´t find it." Jewel answered. "Blu did. He said that he was looking for a place he could find other kind of fruits than mangoes, when he found a grove with watermelons he also found this ring which was half buried in the ground, then he gave it to me." She explained as she took another look at the ring she was still holding in her claw.

"Neat. Just one more thing I would like to ask though." Mauro continued.

"What?" Jewel said.

"Why are you paying us to capture him? Is he maybe, running from you?" Mauro said with a sly look.

"That's none of your business." Jewel said, irked. "Now go & start searching or the deals off!" She snapped, making all the marmosets start to run.

"Wow lady, are you bipolar or what? Now I know why he is running from you!" Mauro shouted as he ran off with the others.

"Repeat that and I´ll use your skin in my nest!" Jewel threatened while the marmosets disappeared through the jungle.

"Those monkeys, I never would have sought them if wasn´t necessary" Jewel said sighing as she spread her wings & flew off.

* * *

"I'm only thankful you´re not plucking feathers too." Rafael said while Blu grabbed his tail feathers, hiding them from the Toucans.

Blu had never seen Rafael flying off the handle before, but it was an understandable reaction since his kids found his tolerance limit. Blu couldn´t do anything more than covering his head with his wings in an attempt to avoid listening to Rafael´s ´gentle´ scold about how pecking and spying on others wasn´t funny.

"Now, can you repeat what I´ve told you about eavesdropping?" Rafael continued seriously.

"Spying on others is impolite and mustn´t be done." All the young Toucans chorused.

"It´s good to see you understand." Rafael said, nodding. He paused expectantly, but the group remained motionless in front of him. "So…" he added trying to restrain himself from blowing up again pointing his primary feathers on the hollow´s direction, a movement the Toucans finally understood and went back into the hollow as fast as they could.

Then Rafael turned to Blu again "Sorry for that, sometimes I wish I never had children." he said calming down. "Now then, where we were?" He mused, tapping his wing feather up underneath his beak. "Oh yes!" he said as the conversation came back to him. "If you want to solve your problems with Jewel you should accept her proposal of having kids." He said blithely.

Blu remained frozen by the scene he´d just witnessed. "Yeah…sure, I see that very clearly." He managed to say, gulping.

"Excellent." Rafael said. "I'm sure you´ll be a great father. You know, it´s in your DNA." he said humorously, echoing what he said when they had first met. Blu gave a nervous chuckle, but before either of them could say anything else, Eva landed on the tree.

"Here you are!" Eva shouted.

Rafael looked surprised. "What´s the problem? I´ve been here the whole time."

"I´m not talking to you." Eva said. "I´m talking to him." she said pointing her primary feathers at Blu who was shivering behind Rafael.

"Me?" Blu said.

"Of course you." Eva said, glaring at him. "Why did you abandon Jewel? That´s one of the cruelest actions ever." she said, irked.

"WHAT?" Blu exclaimed.

"Yes, that´s what everyone is saying." Eva answered. "A sparrow told me that and imagine my surprise when I found you here." she said.

"That´s completely, absolutely, definitively FALSE." Blu said as loudly & firmly as he could. He hesitated though. "That´s what everyone is saying about me?" he then asked and Eva nodded.

"They said you flew away from your hollow and left her alone." Eva said accusingly.

Blu was stung by her words but rallied to defend himself. "That's the way gossips are made." Blu said. "It´s nothing like that." he insisted.

"He´s telling the truth." Rafael cut in. "He´d just come to tell me they want to have kids." he added.

Upon hearing this Eva's anger immediately evaporated & she looked thrilled. "Really? That's wonderful!" Eva exclaimed. "I can't wait to see how beautiful your kids will be!" she said excitedly.

While he was glad to no longer be facing her anger, Blu felt it would be best not to allow any more misunderstandings. "That wasn´t exactly what I said." Blu clarified. "I think I´m not ready yet." he continued.

"Oh! Now I see your point." Eva said, nodding understandingly. "Don´t worry, that´s a completely normal feeling, but that´s not the way to solve your problems." she said.

"But what should I do?" Blu asked in despair.

"The first thing you should do is to calm down." Eva suggested. "You won´t get anything good from panicking."

"That´s the best advice I´ve got today." Blu exclaimed giving Rafael a meaningful look. "I might go to see Nico and Pedro, spending some time listening to music should help me calm down & clear my mind." Blu said.

"Great idea!" Rafael excitedly exclaimed, but was mollified when he saw Eva give him a sharp look, a clear 'No' written on her face. He slumped a little & said. "I'm sorry I can´t go with you this time. These kids are grounded and we both need to keep an eye on them." Eva's expression softened & she nodded in agreement.

"OK then guys. Thanks for the talk & I'll see you later." Blu said as he waved his wing at them & then turned, getting ready to take off.

"Oh, Wait!" Eva called as she remembered something. Blu turned back with a quizzical expression. "I also was told that they saw Jewel flying away from your hollow in a different direction than you." Eva related.

Blu was slightly taken aback. Sure, there was nothing stopping Jewel from leaving the hollow if she wished, but what with her recent behavior Blu couldn't help but wonder if she was up to something. "Oh…right. That's a little strange. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. Anyways, you go and give everything a second thought." Eva encouraged. "If we see Jewel we'll make sure she knows you're fine & what you're doing. Just take care." she said.

Blu gave them a reassuring smile. "Don´t worry, I'll be fine." Blu said as he spread his wings. "I just need to clear my mind" he said as he took off.

* * *

Tulio was taking Rob to the recovery room again after another check-up. He was sure Rob hadn't gotten any fractures but he just wanted to make sure and had taken him to the radiologist for X-rays. Once the results were ready his feelings had been confirmed. There were no fractures, only external wounds, so he had removed the bandage on his head to allow him to be more comfortable.

"That´s it Rob." Tulio said as returned Rob to the cage. "You´re recovering quickly, I´m pretty sure you´ll be released sooner than we thought. But until that day comes you should rest and don´t touch the bandages, understand?" Tulio asked and Rob, lying on the cage´s floor, nodded a little but the pain froze his movement making him let out a pained squawk. Tulio looked sympathetic. "I know it still hurts, but don´t worry. The anesthetic I gave you will kick in in a few minutes & you won't feel any more pain. Soon you´ll be able to go on rehabilitation sessions." he reassured him. "I´ll see you tomorrow." Tulio said closing the cage´s door and leaving the room.

"Wonderful Rob!" Sophie exclaimed. "You'll be healthy soon, aren´t you excited?"

"Yeah, I am." Rob answered, giving her a smile. "But… sorry, can you tell me your name again?" he asked sheepishly.

"Ha-ha." A chuckle was heard from overhead. "I think someone needs a new brain. You make me laugh featherhead."

"Why do you like to tease him Ruby?" Sophie asked giving Ruby a vexed look. "Is it because he´s unable to defend himself or what?" she questioned.

Ruby ruffled her feathers. "I don´t have to explain my reasons to you." She said snidely. She then resumed her comments on Rob's condition. "Just look at him, I´m sure he´s about to forget how to breathe." she said.

Sophie jumped up on the upper bars of her cage & held herself there as she glared at Ruby. "Do whatever you want, but if you lay a single feather on him you´ll feel my wrath."

Ruby smirked as she looked down at the irate bird glaring at her. "You tempt me to do it just to see what you can do." She challenged her.

"Sorry, sorry, I remember now. Sorry Sophie." Rob interrupted distressed, almost begging for her forgiveness. "I didn´t want to cause problems." he said apologizing. "It´s just I don´t know what´s happening with me, I can´t remember things easily and I have to make extra effort to learn new ones." he said sadly.

"Is that not tender?" Ruby said sarcastically, putting her wings together. "You´ll make me throw my breakfast featherhead." she said.

"Sorry to ask but why are you calling me featherhead?" Rob asked curiously as he carefully turned his head, trying to see Ruby.

"Please don´t give her the chance to tease you." Sophie muttered.

"You make this so easy it isn't funny." Ruby exclaimed. "It´s a fancy way to insult you, if you forget everything then you´re a featherhead, you should be pretty angry about that right?" she answered.

But Rob answered politely. "That's good to know. I´ll try to remember it, thanks for the data." Rob said.

Ruby was clearly surprised about his answering to her insults, but she just huffed & turned around, walking to the opposite side of her cage where she was out of Sophie and Rob´s sight.

Sophie gave a sigh of relief. "Well done Rob, I thought she would never stop." She congratulated him.

"I don´t know why she did that, I just thanked her for explaining things to me." Rob answered. He then yawned as his medicine began to kick in, making him drowsy even as it allowed him to turn his head to survey his cage & realize someone was missing. "Sorry to change the topic, but where is Felipe?" Rob asked, blinking as he fought the first wave of drowsiness.

"He´s on a routine check-up." Sophie answered. "He´s fully recovered and will be released soon." She added. Rob then yawned again & Sophie gave him another sympathetic look. "Your medicine is beginning to kick in, right?"

"Yeah. I think so…" Rob mumbled as his eyes started to close.

"Well, sweet dreams." Sophie said gently. Rob gave a vague nod as he tucked his head into his wing & quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Blu arrived at the city; it was a beautiful sight, many times before he had followed the same route during their frequent flights with Jewel, but now he was alone. This doesn´t feel the same. Blu thought.

Blu flew over the Ipanema neighbourhood until he spotted a big market and started to descend taking care to make sure that no human saw him. One kidnap experience was quite enough for him, thank you very much. As he carefully landed in a back alley next to a big tent, he glanced around one more time & then walked inside.

Just like the first time he had come there the club was full of birds. The environment was great as the birds danced along with music. A heron walked towards him and offered a thimble with fruit juice. His long flights had made him thirsty so he accepted it gratefully.

Blu spotted Nico and Pedro singing at the center of the club, & threading his way through the crowd of dancing birds he found a place near to them where he could relax and listen to the song.

Tall and tan and young and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking  
and when she passes, each one she passes goes – ah

Nico sang as the couples started to gather following the rhythm of the song.

Blu noticed he had already drunk all his juice and started to look for the heron to ask for more but didn´t find him, so he just shrugged and continued enjoying the show.

When she walks, she's like a samba that swings so cool

and sways so gentle that when she passes, each one she passes goes - ooh  
Ooh But I watch her so sadly, how can I tell her I love her

As had happened the first time, the beat worked its way into Blu's legs & he found himself dancing along with everyone else. As Nico continued his song however, Blu noticed that he appeared to be directly addressing a couple that was standing on the opposite side of Blu.

Yes I would give my heart gladly,  
But each day, when she walks to the sea  
She looks straight ahead, not at me

Blu recalled when he had tried to impress Jewel while she was only trying to recover her freedom, only for her to ignore him, no matter what he would do.

Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking  
and when she passes, I smile - but she doesn't see.  
She just doesn't see, she never sees me...

Blu still wasn´t sure why or when Jewel started to fall in love with him, of course jumping from a plane to save her was the cherry on the cake but something before called her attention. Once Nico stopped singing Pedro came into scene.

Olha que coisa mais linda mais cheia de graça

Ela, menina, que vem e que passa  
Num doce balanço a caminho do mar  
Mosa do corpo dourado do sol de Ipanema  
O seu balançado parece um poema  
A coisa mais linda que eu já vi passar.

Blu didn´t understand a word from Pedro but he was sure his performance was great, then without a warning he started to dance showing off his best moves. Then Pedro and Nico sang together the first in Portuguese and the second in English.

Ooh But I watch her so sadly  
Aah Por que tudo eh tão triste?  
Yes I would give my heart gladly,  
But each day, when she walks to the sea  
She looks straight ahead, not at me

Then a light focused on the couple Nico and Pedro were addressing. They were two macaws that Blu, stopping his dancing, immediately recognized and understood Nico and Pedro were helping them just like they did with Jewel and him.

Tall, tan, young, lovely, the girl from Ipanema goes walking  
And when she passes, I smile - but she doesn't see  
She just doesn't see, she never sees me...

Blu watched curiously how Nico and Pedro´s plan was going, the male macaw was dancing trying to impress the female & inviting her to join him, but she just stood motionless staring at him like he was crazy.

Por causa do amor...  
She just doesn't see...  
Nem olha para mim...  
She never sees me...  
Por causa do amor

The entire crowd exploded clapping as the duo finished the song. Blu then remembered when Jewel noticed him as a potential mate. Dancing. That´s it! He thought happily. He hoped he would be able to convince Jewel to visit the club & enjoy the music like they did many times before. After all, what lady could res….

"You´re such an idiot."

Blu´s thoughts were interrupted & the crowd was silenced as this comment rang out from the female Macaw.

Ignoring the slightly surprised & taken aback looks she was getting from the crowd, the female went on: "I don´t know why I agreed to come here with you." She snapped at the male as she stormed out of the club and flew away. The crowd's gazes followed her out & then turned back on the one who had stayed. Then Nico and Pedro landed next to him.

"Dude, she's really mad at you." Pedro exclaimed. "What did you tell her to make her react like that?" he asked.

The Male Macaw just shrugged. "Nothing, I just told her to take the opportunity to stay with me before it was too late." He answered.

At this comment Nico just put his wing over his face moving his head in a disapproving way.

The male Macaw then huffed, shaking his head slightly. "I´ll never understand why she insists on this 'hard to get' act, but she'll come to her senses soon." He said confidently. The Macaw then exited the club himself, presumably to chase after the female while all the birds began to murmur.

Nico & Pedro exchanged a look & shook their heads slightly, but then they turned back to the crowd. "Ok everyone. Let´s continue with the party and don´t forget to stop for a drink!" Nico called & made some signals with his wing, then the music started again.

As Blu approached the 2 he heard Pedro sigh. "This is a total mess." He said.

"Hi guys." Blu spoke up before Nico could respond. The Cardinal & the Canary turned & their faces lit up as the saw him.

"Blu! Good to see you." Nico said, almost instantly cheering up upon seeing one of their successful matchmaking attempts after their current failure. He then glanced towards the exit the Macaws had used & sighed. "Sorry you had to see that" he apologized.

"Don´t worry about that, I know those two just need to know each other better." Blu reassured Nico.

"I think so." Nico said. "But Juan is still quite presumptuous and doesn't understand that´s exactly what girls hate, especially her. If he keeps that attitude up he will not get far with her, he thinks that being the only male of his species around will make her fall into his wings." he concluded.

Listening to Nico´s last comment Blu remembered something. "Hey…how do you think Juan would react if another macaw of his species appeared?" he asked archly. "Hypothetically speaking, of course." he added.

Nico & Pedro exchanged glances, & gave a nod to each other. "To be honest". Nico said. "That would be the best thing that could happen to those two. A little competition would make him to realize what he´s doing wrong." He answered. Nico then gave Blu a curious look. "Why do you ask?"

"It was just a thought." Blu answered. He had been considering a possible candidate for that job, but then reconsidered it. Although he´d just met him Blu was pretty sure he wouldn't want to pretend to be in love with someone even if it was for good cause.

After a long silence and a carefully analysis Pedro spoke. "Hey bro, I don´t want to change the topic but isn't someone missing here?" he said.

"Yeah." Nico said glancing around. "Where´s Jewel?" he asked.

They had to ask, Blu thought and doubted for a second but finally spoke. "If you have the time, I can tell you everything." he said.

"All the time you need buddy." Nico said.

"Fine." Blu said with a deep sigh. "Here I go." He then started to explain to them all what had happened over the last two days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

"And that´s the reason Jewel's not here." Blu finished after a long explanation. When he related about when he & Jewel found Rob he was careful not to reveal Rob's species, a detail he omitted because If Nico and Pedro knew he was a Scarlet Macaw they would almost certainly suggest to ask for his help on their matchmaking issues.

"That´s what I call a dilemma." Nico said crossing his wings as he tried to think of a solution. He & Pedro were experts in romance, they had helped many birds to fall in love, but from then on they pretty much just left the couple to sort things out themselves. They never looked forward to see what happened next. "We understand why you feel that way, let´s take Ralfi´s example." he added. "He and Eva used to be the King and Queen of Carnival, but once they had kids everything changed. Ralfi entirely disappeared from the Samba scene. Actually, we found him again the day we met you." he said.

"Yeah." Pedro said. "Falling in love is one thing, but having a family, wow, that´s on a completely different level, I don´t see the fun in that."

"That's it exactly." Blu said, relieved that they got his point. "Once we have a family nothing will be the same again, we don´t even know if we would be able to party, I know we´ll have kids eventually, but why now?" Blu asked, looking distressed.

After their long chat, which was comforting but not enough to help Blu with his problem, Nico and Pedro escorted Blu to the exit. "Are you sure you don´t want to stay a little more?" Pedro asked hopefully.

Blu shook his head. "Sorry guys, I can´t. I still have to go visit Linda at the Center and see how Rob is doing too. It's getting late and I don´t want to be wandering in the dark."

"Oh yes, your new friend." Nico said. He shook his head. "Weird way to meet someone, & it's good to know he´s under treatment." He glanced over at Pedro. "Hey, we should visit him one day, right Buddy?" Pedro nodded in agreement & he & Nico gave Blu a curious look. "Who did you say he was?" Nico asked.

"His name is Rob." Blu answered.

"No I mean, what is he?" Nico corrected. "You know, what kind of bird?"

"He´s a red Macaw." Blu said, still being vague. He knew where they wanted to go, but he still didn't want to give away Rob's species.

"We want to know his species." Pedro said bluntly.

Damn. Blu thought. "He is err…" Blu hesitated, but then an idea occurred. He might be able to use his reputation of not knowing much about Rio & its native species to his advantage here. "Hmm, you know I'm not entirely sure." He said, cocking his head to one side. "Some of his wing feathers are green though." He offered, hoping they would take the bait.

They did. "Green-winged." They chorused as they exchanged a nod.

Nico sighed, looking disappointed. "Oh well. We hoped maybe he was a Scarlet Macaw. They're the ones with yellow feathers on their wings rather than green Blu." He offered informatively. Blu nodded, acting as if the information was new to him. He didn't like misleading his friends, but it looked like he was right. If they knew, they'd get all excited about the possibilities & Rob was in no state for that. "But new arrivals are always welcome." Nico continued as he perked up, looking like his normal, cheerful self again. "We just need to careful about introducing him to other Green-wings. Ingrid for instance, definitely not someone you want to trapped talking to at a party." He exchanged a mischievous smile with Pedro. "Isn't that right 'Darling?'" He said.

"Yes dear." Pedro said smiling back. The 2 of them then descended into giggles.

Blu merely watched them in confusion, & the 2 then pulled themselves together. "Hey, don't worry about it Buddy." Pedro said, clapping his wing against Blu's back. "Ingrid & Ricky live on the other side of the Conservation area, so you probably won't run into her. If you do, just say you have somewhere to be. Everyone else does." He finished with another snort of laughter.

"Uh...Sure." Blu said.

"Anyways, send your new friend our greetings and tell him he´ll always be welcome here." Nico said.

"I will. Be seeing you." Blu said spreading his wings and taking off, glad that the questions had finished. Nico & Pedro had hearts of gold & he was grateful that he'd be able to talk over his problems with them, but he didn´t want to involve Rob into all those love issues, losing his memory was enough of a problem to deal with. Blu then flew off towards the Center.

* * *

"You haven´t found him! What kind of trackers are you?" Jewel shouted ruffling her feathers as the Marmosets covered their ears, recoiling from her anger. "The last time you found us much faster than this!"

"Hey, calm down, it´s not easy to cover all the area. The last time you two were careless walking around so you were an easy target, but now we're looking for a single Macaw flying around the jungle or the city." Mauro explained to a pretty upset Jewel.

"Just remember that if you don´t fulfil every single part of the deal I won´t pay you." Jewel threatened.

"We know it, we´ll find him." Mauro assured.

"I´ll see you tomorrow and I expect results, understood Monkeys?" Jewel said.

Mauro saluted her smartly. "Understood!" He then hesitated briefly. "Just one thing though, I´ll have to ask you to not call us Monkeys." He said. "We are Marmosets, and very proud of it." he pointed out.

Jewel rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Just bring me Blu." she said as she turned around, spread her wings & flew off.

Mauro watched her leave & when she was out of sight, he shook his head sympathetically. "Poor guy. He drew the short straw by staying with that crazy girl. It kinda makes up for..." Mauro stopped & coughed as the other marmosets gave him a confused look. "Never mind. You guys never understand my smart comments anyway." he complained as he began to issue instructions, getting the search back on track.

* * *

Jewel flew through the Jungle, brooding on her thoughts. After a few minutes of flight however, Jewel felt someone was following her. She was much better at detecting such things than Blu was, at least when she wasn't distracted like when the time she was upset at Blu & Nigel had snuck up on her. She quickly landed on a branch & hid behind some leaves. After a scant few moments of waiting, her pursuer passed in front of her & without thinking she threw herself at them. With a swift movement she snatched the other bird from the air by his neck and forced them down onto a branch.

"Why are you doing this Blu?" Jewel demanded, but then blinked as she realized the other bird didn't resemble Blu in any way. She immediately released him & stepped back.

Rafael coughed & rubbed his neck as he got to his claws. "Wow, you´re strong Jewel, you threw me down easily." he said.

Jewel was immediately apologetic. "Sorry Rafael. I didn´t mean to hurt you, I thought you were Blu." she apologized.

"Don´t worry, now I won´t ask Blu again why he has those scars on his neck." Rafael said laughing "You need be more careful with Blu, he isn´t made of rock. There aren´t too many like him, are there?" he said as he straightened his neck feathers.

"I´ll try." Jewel said "I just do it when we argue. I just..." She said in frustration, but then stopped & took a deep calming breath. "I just get a bit worked up sometimes." she explained with a note of shame. Her emotions had been a little strange lately. Her thoughts about that were then derailed however when she realized something. "Hey, were you following me?" Jewel asked a little upset.

"Yes I was." Rafael replied. "Eva and I saw you passing and I wanted to talk to you." he said.

"Me? Why?" Jewel asked curiously.

"Blu dropped by our hollow." Rafael said. "He explained us the situation." he added.

"So, he told you he is a coward and he doesn't want to stay with me." Jewel stated with frustration.

"No, no, you´re wrong." Rafael said hurriedly. "Please Jewel, try to understand. Every single thing here is new for him, he's only lived here for a short time and he needs time to assimilate, you should know that." he said.

"That's what he told you?" Jewel asked.

"Well, not exactly, he tried to, but he was too disturbed that he wasn't able to express himself correctly. We just came to the conclusion that those are his feelings. We suggested to him that he relax and take some time to think and sort everything in his mind. That's the reason I wanted to have a word with you." Rafael said. "Both of you need some time to think about where your relationship is going, just assess what is important for you. That's something I should've told Blu earlier but I was so distracted with my kids that I didn't." Rafael explained.

"So, what did he decide?" Jewel asked.

"He said he wanted to go to see Nico and Pedro so they could help him to clear his mind." Rafael answered.

"Those stupid Monkeys, they didn't search in the most obvious place" Jewel muttered.

"What was that?" Rafael said, cocking his head curiously.

"Nothing, I didn't say anything." Jewel rushed to answer.

Rafael blinked, but then just nodded. "He´ll probably spend the night with Nico and Pedro, so I think you shouldn't worry about him." Rafael reassured her. "Do you want to stay with us tonight?" he offered.

"No, no. I´ll stay at my hollow, I'll be fine there." Jewel said.

Rafael nodded. "If you're sure, you should go then, it's getting dark." He suggested.

"Yes, I have to go. Thank you for the information and sorry I attacked you." Jewel said.

"Don't worry about it." Rafael said with a dismissive wave of his wing. "I'm used to being a tackle target." Rafael said with a smirk. Jewel returned the smile as best she could before spreading her wings & flying off back to her hollow.

As Jewel flew over the Jungle's canopy, she could see the magnificent sunset on the horizon. She recalled how Blu and she enjoyed them together since the first day they met; & at the same time she tried to understand Blu´s behaviour.

Why is he running from me? Is it because he doesn't love me? She asked herself. Was it possible? Blu had showed his intentions to be her partner when they had talked the first time inside that room she was locked in. At the time, she hadn't reacted that well because she only wanted to recover what she had lost: her freedom.

Jewel landed on a branch and looked around, all was darkness, only a weak moonlight passed through the trees. She walked along the branch & entered her hollow.

Once inside she started to muse about the last months.

Jewel smirked as recalled all the time she had spent with Blu. A long time had passed since the last time she hung out with someone before she was caught and taken to the Center, and now she found someone to stay with and share her life.

I have freedom. Jewel thought. But it isn´t enough…I feel...loneliness. She added as she realized that for the first time in months, she was alone.

"Hmm. I dunno. It sounds a little lonely."

The memory of Blu's voice echoed in her mind as Jewel leaned her head over to the hollow´s entrance & stared at the darkness. Now she was in love with Blu her freedom wasn´t the same, now she felt the hollow was too big for her, a feeling she never had before. Something...no... Someone...was missing.

She was ready to have a family with Blu; she felt inside the need to have a family, like an invisible string that was pulling her, but when she had brought up the subject he just ran away. Jewel was confused. He said he wasn´t ready, but what is needed to be ready? Why is he making it so complicated? Jewel asked herself. It might be because I keep encouraging him to avoid human contact. She supposed. Despite the fact that they were released and now lived in the Sanctuary, Blu always sought ways to see Linda. Jewel knew their link was too strong and something Blu wasn´t ready to let go, but she never was comfortable with those continuous visits to the Centre to see her, she wanted a completely wild life. Also Blu´s habits to read, eat human food, play with toys and accept being petted were things Jewel disapproved of, but tolerated as part of Blu´s Pet past... or sorry, Companion past as he kept reminding her.

Jewel turned around and spotted some feathers lying next to her, she identified them as Blu´s and remembered when Tulio checked him trying to find why his feathers used to fall out easily. Her concern for Blu's health had easily overridden her reticence about going to the Center on that occasion. After a long analysis Tulio found Blu was just too stressed and advised him to relax if he didn't want to lose more feathers. Relieved that it wasn't anything serious, Jewel found this funny & teased Blu for long time telling him if he didn´t take it easy then he would soon look like that bald eagle from the US he used to talk about.

After this last thought Jewel settled near the feathers rubbing her head on them like they were a pillow, and after a few minutes she fell asleep.

"You need be more careful with Blu, he isn´t made of rock." Rafael´s voice echoed in Jewel´s mind, a thought that made her wake up. I forgot to tell those monkeys to not harm Blu, she realized but she wouldn´t be able to find them through in the night. First thing in the morning I´ll have to find them, she decided and leaned her head again over Blu´s feathers.

* * *

Having spent the day flying from one side of the Jungle to the other, Blu was exhausted when he landed outside of the Center. Blu now knew where Linda was staying and flew to the window of her room. He perched himself on the window ledge and started to knock on the glass. Almost immediately Linda peered through the window, & her face lit up when she saw who it was. She quickly opened up the window.

"Blu! I didn´t expect you would visit again, I´m so happy to see you. You left and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye." Linda exclaimed. She then looked out of the window behind him. "But...where´s Jewel?" she added. "Why isn´t she with you?"

She had to ask too. Blu thought as he flew inside of the room and perched on a chair next to Linda´s bed. Linda closed the window and sat on the bed with Blu staring at her. As she met his gaze, he then made a writing motion with one of his claws. Linda understood & getting up, she opened a drawer & grabbed a notebook & pen that she then placed on the bed.

"So, can you tell me where Jewel is?" Linda asked again.

Hopping down from the chair onto the bed, Blu flipped the Notebook open to an empty page. He then picked up the pen in his claw & started to write a little note explaining his problem with Jewel.

"Jewel wants to have kids! That´s wonderful Blu!" Linda shouted with joy. "I have to tell Tulio about this!" she said as ran out of the room.

In her haste she hadn't let Blu finish writing. Blu realized he should have put the problem differently.

As fast as she had left Linda returned with Tulio following her as fast as he could. "Is it true Blu? Jewel wants to have chicks?" Tulio asked excited, and Blu slowly nodded "That's wonderful! Congratulations." Tulio said, beaming.

Blu hated to bring down the mood, but he needed to tell them. Blu then continued writing his note. As they read it, Linda and Tulio´s mouths dropped. "You aren´t ready?" they both exclaimed, taken aback.

"But…but, this can´t be happening" Tulio said as his usually laid back expression vanished from his face. He was devastated as he realized all his work, research and effort to find and bring Blu back to Rio and introducing Jewel to him could become a complete waste if Blu didn't agree to have chicks with Jewel. "You must be kidding Blu… you can´t be serious, you can´t say that after all that's happened. Have you even thought about everything Jewel, Linda and…" Tulio said, staring vexed at Blu who hid behind Linda trying to avoid face to face contact with Tulio.

"Hey, pull yourself together." Linda interjected as she picked up Blu & protectively cradled him in her arms as she walked towards Tulio. "I won´t allow you to say those things to him." she said irked. She never could stand to see Blu being bothered by anyone and Tulio wouldn´t be the exception.

Tulio remained frozen for some seconds, Linda´s attitude surprised him and he knew she was right, it also showed him that if she had to choose between Blu and him he would be the loser without a doubt. He then sighed as he realized about his behaviour. "I´m sorry Linda. I didn't mean to make you or Blu feel bad. I feel terrible for what I´ve just done, & I apologize Blu. I think I got a bit carried away by my own fears of failing."

Linda's expression softened. "It´s ok Tulio. But remember, this isn´t Blu´s fault, we are the ones whom made his species almost go extinct." Linda reminded Tulio.

At this comment Tulio sadly lowered his head "I know. It sometimes seems that all I do here is try to make up for the mistakes of my species."

Linda gave him a sympathetic look "I´m sorry too, I sometimes get worked up especially when is something against Blu." Linda said getting closer to Tulio and hugging him, but suddenly released him when Blu squawked and she realized he was between of them and was being squeezed, "Sorry Blu, I was a little distracted." Linda apologized as she placed him down gently on the bed. Blu waved his wing dismissively.

"Well." Linda said. "Going back to the problem I suggest Blu should stay here at least tonight, sometimes a little time away from each other is the best way for a couple to sort out their problems." She explained. She then met Blu's gaze. "Does Jewel already know you´re out? She would worry about you not arriving back to your hollow." she asked.

Blu thought a few seconds and remembered Rafael and Eva promising him they would inform Jewel about his actions, so he nodded.

"Good, now you´re here do you want to spend some time together?" Linda asked and Blu nodded again eagerly.

"It´s fine, you can stay Blu, and I don´t want to put pressure on the situation but remember you´re the last of your species, don´t waste this chance." Tulio said. Blu gave him a so-much-for-not-putting-on-pressure look, but Tulio didn't notice. "Then I´ll see you tomorrow, good night you 2." Tulio finished as he walked to the door, & waved at them as he left. Both of them waved back.

Linda and Blu spent many hours reading together, playing on the computer and chatting, of course Linda was the only who spoke since Blu´s comments were heard by Linda only like chirps and squawks. This was something she was used to & Blu could always write if he really wanted to say something to her, but Linda was sure what Blu was saying were very smart comments, & she wished she was able to understand them. Maybe someone someday would be able to come up with a way.

Then Linda looked at the clock. "Well it´s late & we should get to bed." Linda said yawning, she walked towards Blu. "Hey Blu...I brought your cage from Minnesota." She said gently. "Would you like to spend the night there? You know...just like old times?" she suggested and Blu squawked with joy. "I thought you would like that." she said with a smile as she moved her arm in front of Blu and he hopped onto it. Linda went over to a door in the side of the room & opened it. In the new room, Blu recognized Linda´s belongings from the bookstore, & Linda walked towards the Blu's cage which was standing in the corner.

Blu couldn´t wait and flew off from Linda´s arm and stood over the cage hugging it. "It's been a long time." He said happily. He had spent most of his life in that cage and a few months living in the jungle wouldn´t change the sense of safety it gave to him.

Linda watched this with a pleased look. Getting the cage here was worth it. She thought. "Good night Blu." She said. Blu released his grip on the cage & flew over to her to hug her instead. "It´s nothing Blu." Linda said walking towards the cage and placing Blu inside. "Just rest, I´m sure we can sort everything out, don't worry." Blu met her sympathetic gaze & nodded, with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow." she said as went to the door. Before she went through though, she stopped, turned back & said: "Oh Blu, I almost forgot to tell you." Blu gave her a curious look. "Rob is in the recovery room. Tulio said he´s doing well." Linda added. Blu nodded at that, and then Linda went out of the room.

Yes...Rob. Blu mused. I completely forgot about him with all this mess. He yawned as he was pretty tired, but he could make a bit of time to check on their new friend before he turned in for the night. With that thought in mind he exited the cage, opened the room's other door & entered the corridor of the Center. He then headed towards where he knew the recovery room was.

As he entered the room, he saw the cage where Rob was lying. I don´t know if he´s recovering but I can see much more of him through those bandages, Blu thought. Rob only had bandages on his wings and around his right leg. Blu approached the cage & hopped up next to it. "Rob… Rob can you hear me, it´s me Blu." He said softly, but the Scarlet Macaw in the cage didn't stir.

"He probably won´t answer you." A voice Blu recognized spoke up. "Tulio gave him some medicine because the pain was bothering him." Blu looked to the source of the voice as the Bird approached the edge of the cage and pointed towards Rob. "So he´s been sleeping since then."

"Hi Felipe." Blu said happily. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes I do, I feel brand new, they say I´ll be released soon." Felipe answered.

"That´s great!" Blu exclaimed "Everyone was worried when you got sick." he added.

"I know it, but now I´m fine. Actually I´m anxious to return to see my family." Felipe exclaimed. "I don´t know when I´ll be released but I expect it´ll be soon." he added.

"You´ll be released tomorrow." a female voice interjected. "That´s why they made that last check-up on you."

"Really? That´s wonderful!" Felipe said excitedly. "How did you know?" He asked.

"Easy." The bird said. "Every day at the same hour a researcher comes, and he´s always holding a roster where all the data about us is written." she explained.

Blu peered towards the source of the female voice & saw in a cage next to them an Azure Jay, a common bird in Rio he had seen many times before.

"Oh! Hi, we haven't met before right? My name is Blu." Blu said.

"Nice to meet you Blu. You can call me Sophie." She said.

An expression of realization crossed Felipe's face. "Hey, you mentioned a roster right? That means you can read?" Felipe said with an impressed note in his voice.

"Sure." Sophie said turning to Felipe. "I lived near a public library and I used to visit it all the time. There were humans teaching their children how to read and that´s how I learned. Of course I first learned Portuguese, then after some time, practice and with the help of some books I learned to read English too."

"Books, that´s why I love them." Blu said happily. "You can learn so many things from them." He added as his eyes brightened. His enthusiasm then morphed into curiosity. "Why did you leave that wonderful place, it must be pretty exciting having access to so many books." Blu asked curiously.

"I didn´t want to." Sophie said sadly. "I love my home and I would never abandon it, but one day everything changed and I was captured by smugglers." she explained "I´ll never forgive myself for being too curious and falling into that trap." She said in a regretful tone as she recalled those events. "Fortunately when I and some other birds were in a warehouse some humans rescued all of us. Since then I´ve been here, waiting to be released. They are investigating if I was stolen from someone, but once the legal time had passed and no one has come I´ll be free again." Sophie said wistfully as a tear rolled down her face.

Blu was apologetic. "I´m so sorry, I didn´t mean to make you feel sad."

"It´s nothing, don´t worry, it happens. I just need to be patient and once the day comes, I´ll return to my home" Sophie said rubbing away the tear with her wing.

"So you had time to meet Rob?" Blu said, in an attempt to divert Sophie from the topic, lowering his head to see Rob sleeping.

"Just a little." Sophie said.

"We´ve only explained him about how things work here, and he doesn´t have too much to say since he doesn´t remember almost anything." Felipe said. "Of course that´s something only happens when he´s awake, most of the time you see him like tha.t" Felipe added as he pointed his primary feathers to an asleep Rob.

"That's my fault." Blu said, showing a guilty expression "All because I let him fall." he added covering his head with his wings.

"Yes, we know the story." Sophie said. "If this make you feel better; he said he wouldn´t be alive if you hadn´t saved him" Sophie reassured Blu.

"Is that what he said?" Blu said a little relieved.

"Yep, he repeats it all the time, he continuously forgets he´d already told us that story, but we let him tell it. It´s better than standing in silence." Felipe said.

"Can you tell us exactly what happened to him?" Sophie asked curiously.

"I would like to tell you, but I don´t know more than what he already told you." Blu explained. "The first time I saw him was when he was falling out of the sky."

"So you´re the one who brought that featherhead here." A female voice broke into the conversation from above.

"Not again!" Sophie exclaimed. "Ruby, can't you just shut your beak?" she asked annoyed.

"Oh, so you also have taken care of Rob?" Blu said looking up at the macaw who was peering down from the upper cage.

"Nothing like that." Sophie said. "She´s been teasing him since the first moment he arrived." she explained.

"Oh, really?" Blu said flapping his wings until he reached to the level where Ruby´s cage was. "Hi there" he said as he held onto the cage's bars with his claws and met the slightly contemptuous gaze of the Bird inside. Blu scanned Ruby to see she was a blue-eyed green-winged macaw, & he also noted she had lost most of her middle feathers from her wings, so he didn´t approach any more thinking that could be contagious.

"What do you want?" Ruby asked.

"I just wanted to meet you." Blu answered "Any friend of Rob's is a friend of mine too." he said mischievously, waiting for her reaction.

"I´m not his friend, he's annoying." Ruby answered, looking upset.

"I see, can you tell me why he´s so annoying?" Blu inquired politely and Ruby remained in silence for some seconds.

"None of your business." Ruby said and turned around, sending a message to Blu that their little chat had ended.

"Well, I think I have to go, thanks for the interesting talk." Blu said to her back. He then released his grip on the cage & flapped his wings until he returned to the level he was on before.

"Wow, you put Ruby in her place." Sophie said.

"I´m used to dealing with that kind of bird." Blu explained, recalling those times when he was teased by two Geese. "There are many reasons for that kind of behaviour; envy, grudge, we just don't know what she has against Rob."

"Hey Blu, I see you´re not with Jewel, where is she?" Felipe asked.

That question again. Blu was beginning to dread hearing it. "Oh, yeah…she´s at our hollow now…oh wow, look at the time." Blu said, mimicking with his wing someone who was checking his watch "It really is late, I should get going. He said quickly. "Good night you 2." He said as he turned around and spread his wings.

"Good night Blu." Sophie and Felipe chorused.

Before flying off however, Blu hesitated & turned around again. "Please take care of Rob, he seems to be lost with all of this." Blu asked as he gave a Rob a last look.

"Don´t worry we´ll look after him." Sophie said and Felipe nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, I feel better now I know you´re here with him." Blu said. He then opened his wings & took off, flying swiftly out of the room.

Once Blu had left Felipe and Sophie exchanged looks. "That kid has serious problems, I can see it on his face" Felipe stated.

"Yes I think so too." Sophie said. She then frowned. "Who´s Jewel?" she asked Felipe curiously.

"She´s his mate." Felipe answered. "And I´m pretty sure she´s got something to do with those problems." he deduced. "I hope they´re not so serious like he shows on his face. Those 2 seemed so happy together. I hope they can work out whatever's bothering them." He added hopefully.

* * *

Blu flew into the room where the cage was. He then hovered in front of the cage´s door & unlatched and gently opened it, then entered the cage & perched inside. I can´t remember when was the last time we were together. Blu thought as he surveyed the cage slowly & happily. He then spotted a little bell that was hanging in front of him. "I missed you my little bell." he muttered as he moved his claw towards it and rang it at the same time as he ruffled his feathers. Then he moved to the cage´s upper side and jumped onto his swing, "This is better than a tree branch." He said happily as he swung back & forth a few times. "But…" he added, as his swinging slowed & he looked a little depressed. "I miss Jewel." He muttered into the quiet of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**While Blu is in the middle of his issues, Rob must solve his own problems.**

* * *

**Chapter V**

After a long slumber Rob opened his eyes. He was still inside that cage Tulio put him in the day before. He raised his head, noticing the pain he had before wasn´t there. Instead, all of his body felt numb. As his gaze travelled around the cage it met Felipe's, who was perched inside the same cage & watching him carefully.

"So you´re finally awake." Felipe said. "I thought I´d have to leave without saying goodbye."

"Goodbye? Why?" Rob asked, confused.

"Oh yeah, you don´t know yet." Felipe recalled.

"Felipe is ready to be released." Sophie joined in the conversation. "I told him last night but you were sleeping at the time." She explained. "So, how do you feel now, sleepyhead?"

"Oh, Good morning Sophie…you too Felipe." Rob said. "I feel better. In fact, I don´t feel any pain." he said as he flexed his wings a few times.

"That's good to hear." Felipe said. "That must be because the anesthetic though." He warned. "Don't think you´re recovered just yet, the medicine makes it so that you just don´t feel the pain." he explained.

"Also, it's good to see you remembered our names this time." Sophie said and Rob gave her an ashamed look. "Can you stand up?" she asked.

"I don´t know, let's try." Rob said. He took a deep breath & using his wings as supports against the floor of the cage, he managed to stand up.

"You did it!" Sophie said, excited. "You´re surely recovering if you can do that."

"How about walking?" Felipe asked.

Rob stood up straight and full of confidence, which lasted right up until the moment he moved his right leg forward and toppled over onto the floor again. "Awk!" he gave an involuntary squawk as his face met the floor.

"Rob! Are you OK?" Sophie shouted concerned, as Felipe immediately hopped from his perch to Rob's side & helped him stand up again.

"What happened?" Felipe asked concerned. He steadied Rob with his wings, before folding them up against his sides again.

Rob shook his head. "I don´t know, just lost my balance, I think." Rob tried to take another step, but got the same result. "Awk! Ow! That really hurts." Rob said, lying on the cage´s floor just in front of Sophie´s cage.

Felipe had a confused look on his face as he looked down at Rob. "What do you think you´re doing?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Rob asked, as he once again got back up onto his claws. "Walking, of course."

"You´re doing it wrong, how do you think you´re going to walk by doing that?" Felipe scolded him.

"What am I doing wrong?" Rob asked, completely lost.

"Everything!" Felipe exclaimed.

"Rob what´s happening?" Sophie asked.

A laugh floated down from the upper cage. "Ha-ha, that´s what I call entertainment." Ruby said. "You should charge for it" she added.

"Not again, Ruby just shut up!" Sophie shouted.

"I won´t." Ruby said. "It´s so funny, he forgot how to walk." she said, trying to contain her laughter. Then everyone´s eyes opened wide.

"Forgot what?!" the three birds chorused.

Then Rob understood, since the moment he woke up he never walked, all the time he spent with Blu and Jewel he didn´t take a single step. He knew how to stand up but apparently he didn´t remember how to walk.

"Ruby, you´re so mean. How do you think that would…" Sophie began but was interrupted.

"Wait Sophie." Rob said. "Ruby is right." Then he remained frozen for some seconds. "I can´t remember the last time I walked." he said, ashamed. "No…no! How can be possible?" he exclaimed in despair & covering his head with his wings.

"I enjoy when someone recognizes I´m right, even if is a featherhead who says it." Ruby said arrogantly. "You´re a complete mess."

"Don´t worry." Sophie reassured Rob as she moved her wing through the cage´s bars & placed it over Rob´s back. Feeling the comforting gesture, he took his face out from his feathers to meet her gaze. "We can solve it, right Felipe?" she asked.

"Yes, that isn´t too difficult, you just have to relearn how to walk." Felipe said, then approached Rob and helped him stand up again. "Let´s see again how you do it just to be sure what you´re doing wrong. Don´t worry." He added as Rob looked uncertain. "I´ll hold you if you fall." Felipe explained.

"Really? Do you know how to help me?" Rob asked hopefully and both nodded. "Fine, here I go." He said as he moved his leg forward again. As before, he began to lose his balance, but Felipe was there to catch him this time.

"That´s enough, I got it." Felipe said as he steadied Rob back onto his claws. "You´re walking without compensating your weight." He explained. "When you go forward, lean backwards, and when you turn to the left you have to compensate by moving your right wing and vice versa. Understand?"

Rob stopped trying to process all the new data. "I think so." he answered.

"Excellent, then try it again." Felipe said as he stood to one side & showed Rob the way with his wing. "I won´t hold you this time." he added.

Then Rob gulped and looked forward trying to remember Felipe´s advice. "Step forward, lean backwards." he said. "Step forward, lean backwards." he repeated.

"Just don´t think about it too much." Sophie said. "Let it flow naturally."

Rob closed his eyes and shivering moved his leg again. When he opened his eyes he realized he gave a step without falling. "Did I do it?" he asked.

"Yes you did it!" Sophie exclaimed.

"I did it!" Rob said happily and then gave another step. "Look, I did it again!" He said as he started walking until he reached the cage´s corner. "Turn left, right wing." He said as he spread his wing a little to compensate his turn and walked again to the next corner. "Do you see? I´m walking." he said excitedly.

Felipe & Sophie exchanged amused glances. "Yes, we do." Felipe said.

"I´ve never seen someone so excited by walking" Sophie said.

Felipe recalled that his chicks had acted much the same way as Rob when they were learning to walk. He had never seen a mature Bird act that way, but Rob's case might be an exception considering the cause of the problem. Felipe realized he could also enjoy teaching him some things, just like he did with his own family before. "Good, walking won´t be a problem again." Felipe said. "Let´s move to the next issue, shall we?" he said as turned & hopped onto a perch. He then turned back to meet Rob's curious gaze. "Can you do this?" he asked, pointing down to the perch.

Rob nodded. "Yeah sure." He said. "That seems easier than walking." He added as he walked confidently towards Felipe & the perch. Just like Felipe had, Rob then jumped over onto the perch, landing with his claws over it, but he immediately gave a pained squawk and lost his balance. He ended up with one leg still on the perch, but with rest of him sprawled out between the perch & the floor. His beak was on the floor & his tail feathers were spread out over his face. He just lay there, shamed & embarrassed as Ruby burst out laughing again.

"Please, no more, I can´t resist, you´re so hilarious." Ruby said lying over her back and laughing at the scene.

"If you don´t want to help don´t open your beak!" Sophie shouted up at her. She then turned her attention back to Rob, looking concerned. "What happened now?" She asked.

"My leg, I felt a great pain there." Rob said showing them his right leg.

"Well, now I know why you have it bandaged." Felipe said.

"Oh, yes, they said you have a sprain in your leg, that´s why you felt that pain." Sophie recalled. "It´s not as serious as a fracture but needs some care." She explained.

"Who said that?" Rob asked as he got to his claws.

"The researchers did, I know all your diagnosis." Sophie said "Multiple contusions, ligament distension and other minor injuries." She recited as Felipe and Rob exchanged confused looks showing that they didn´t understand what she was saying.

"Whatever." Felipe said, shaking his head. He then returned his attention to Rob. "Give it another try, but this time prop yourself up on your left leg instead of the right one." Felipe said.

Rob hopped onto the perch again, but this time took care not to put his weight on his right leg. To his relief the pain didn't come this time & he gave Felipe a grateful look as he perched next to him. "You're right, it doesn´t hurt if I don´t overload it." Rob said.

"It's nice to see you catch on fast." Felipe said. "We don't have much time though, so let´s move onto the next lesson." He reminded Rob & Rob nodded in agreement.

* * *

Jewel was already out of her hollow and flying over the jungle´s canopy. She was looking for Mauro and the Marmosets. I have to find them before they hurt Blu. She thought.

Jewel had always been rude with Blu when she was angry, like when she caught him at midnight one night sneaking out of their hollow to attend a party at the club that she didn´t want to go to. She had grabbed him by his neck & threatened him but never tried to harm him. On second thought, I really should stop doing that. Jewel thought as she recalled Rafael´s advice. I don´t know when I can really hurt him.

After a long flight she spotted one Marmoset running over the ground. "Hey! You! Stop there! I have something to tell all of you!" Jewel shouted, but the Marmoset didn´t seem to hear her. Maybe she was too far away. He continued running & Jewel, flapping her wings hard, attempted to give chase. "Stop right now!" She shouted again. "Are you deaf or what?" She asked. Again, without appearing to notice her & before she could close the distance, the Marmoset disappeared into the Lush jungle.

Flying up higher to try & get a better view, Jewel scanned the Jungle but came up empty. "Great, just great." She huffed in annoyance. "I´ll have to look for another of those Monkeys" She said as she flapped off to resume her search.

Blu woke up and started to stretch as he recalled why he was sleeping in his cage. I should look for Jewel; maybe we can sort all of this out. Blu thought as he came down from his swing and walked to the cage´s door. Today all will be solved, I swear. Blu thought as he spread his wings and flew out of the cage. But first, I have to say good morning to Linda. He thought as he headed for the door.

When Blu got to Linda's room he peered inside but there was no one there. She must have left already. Blu thought, then flew and landed over on the bed where he found a note addressed to him. So, she had to go solve some issues related to Fernando´s adoption. Blu thought as he read the message. He continued reading & perked up at the next part. She´s inviting me to dinner with her tonight! Blu thought happily. His mood then dipped slightly as he read the end of the message. Oh, she wants Jewel to come too…I´m not sure she'll accept. Blu thought unhappily. Jewel never seemed to have much time for Linda, & recently had started getting a bit stand-offish about all the time Blu would spend with her. Blu wished the 2 could get along better, but that seemed unlikely. Linda after all, represented exactly the kind of "Pet" lifestyle that Jewel disliked, even though she didn't actually dislike Linda herself. Anyways…I need to look for Jewel. Blu thought as he put the troubling thoughts aside & moved towards the window. He skilfully unlatched & opened the window, & as he flew up out it he hovered in front of it and carefully closed it again. I´m getting better at doing that, each time is easier. He thought with a touch of pride as he flew towards his hollow to find Jewel.

Once he arrived at his hollow he landed & peered inside. "Jewel I´m back. Are you here?" Blu said, but there was no-one there. Only some of his own feathers piled on one side of the hollow. Where did she go? Blu wondered. Then he heard a noise coming from an upper branch and turned his head trying to find the source of the noise. "Jewel, is that it you?" he called.

Suddenly a Bird emerged and landed in front of Blu scaring him to the point he almost fell from the tree. "Rafael! Why did you scare me like that?" Blu asked.

"Sorry buddy." Rafael apologized. "I was looking for Jewel to see if she's all right." He explained.

"I´m looking for her too." Blu said. "Oh and thanks for taking care of her." He added.

"It's nothing, glad to help. But where did she go?" Rafael said

"I don´t know." Blu said, then thought for a moment. "I got it." He said, brightening up. "I´m sure she went to find her breakfast." he concluded. "She's probably at the mango tree that is near to here. I have to find her so we can talk." he said.

"Excellent amigo!" Rafael said approvingly. "Was the free time you got useful?" he asked and Blu nodded. "Then go and find her! Just try not to irritate her though or she might…" He began but Blu interrupted him.

"Yes I know, she can be very aggressive when she´s upset." Blu said. He then gave Rafael a curious look. "But, how do you know that?" He asked. He didn't go around telling people about Jewel's temper.

"Let´s just say I'm speaking from experience." Rafael said as he rubbed his neck that was attacked by Jewel the night before.

"Fine." Blu said, believing Rafael´s explanation thinking that experience was related to Eva. "Then I should go to the mango tree before she leaves." Blu said as he spread his wings.

"Good, do what you have to do!" Rafael said, waving his wing at him.

Blu waved back. "Wish me luck." he said & then flew off.

"Good luck, you´ll need it" Rafael muttered.

* * *

"Excellent." Felipe said. "Now climb to the upper perch." he instructed pointing at it with his wing feather. Rob nodded & began to climb, using his claws and beak to grip the cage´s bars.

"You are doing great! Go, go!" Sophie cheered him on.

Rob climbed faster and reached the perch that was near to the cage´s ceiling, but he continued his climb & gripped the ceiling of the cage. He then moved his head upwards to peer into Ruby´s cage. He saw that he was just behind Ruby, who hadn't noticed him. Once he had stopped falling all over the place & she had nothing more to laugh at, she had snootily turned her back on their activities. "Hi Ruby! Look I can climb!" Rob shouted happily, startling Ruby & making her jump from her perch. She quickly regained her balance & flapped across to the other side of the cage.

"Are you crazy or what?" Ruby shouted, breathing heavily. She was used to being alone inside her cage & avoiding close contact with other birds, the last thing she would have expected was a visitor. "Go away!" she yelled.

Rob looked apologetic. "Oh sorry, I didn´t mean to scare you." he said.

Ruby huffed. "You didn´t scare me! I was just…just surprised that's all! Now get out of my sight!" She shouted. She then grabbed a piece of food and threw it at Rob, but she missed by a wide margin.

Rob didn't seem at all put out by her attitude. "Ok, see you later." He said cheerfully. He then climbed down to the perch he had originally been aiming for. As he settled there he looked down to see Sophie laughing.

"That was great!" Sophie said, clapping with her wings.

"Fine kid, you got it." Felipe said. "Come on down." He instructed, gesturing down the lower perch he was on. Rob came down & Felipe nodded. "You're doing great. Now, the next…" Felipe began but was interrupted when the door of the room opened.

Everyone turned to see two researchers, a man & women, enter the room carrying cages.

"Do you know who's scheduled for release today?" The women asked the man.

"Yes I do, Gloria." The other answered as he checked his roster, then walked towards some cages and started to check them.

"You wouldn´t have had these delays if you had moved them to the other room yesterday, would you Miguel?" Gloria scolded him.

"I know. Just let me do my job." Miguel answered in an annoyed tone as he reached the cage where Felipe and Rob were. "Here you are." Miguel said as he opened the cage.

Felipe turned to Rob. "Well, this is goodbye." He said.

"Now? But we haven´t finished." Rob groaned.

"Don´t worry, you've already remembered the most important parts. You only need to check how you do with flying." Felipe said, giving him a sly look and then rolled his eyes to Sophie who returned the expression. Rob didn't notice. "If you have any doubts, you always can ask Sophie" Felipe said.

"Yes, you can ask me." Sophie confirmed.

Then Miguel moved his arm inside the cage & stopped it in front of Felipe. "Let´s go, this is your big day." Miguel said to him. Felipe looked excited.

"I've been looking forward to this." He said & hopped onto Miguel's arm. He then turned & said: "I´ll be waiting for both of you." He reassured them, & Sophie and Rob nodded.

"We´ll meet you again soon." Sophie said.

"Thanks for your help, I don´t know I'll ever repay you." Rob said.

"It's nothing, I´m glad you´re doing well." Felipe said, waving a wing dismissively. As Miguel pulled his arm back & took him out of the cage he called out: "Keep it up you hear?"

Once Miguel placed Felipe into another cage, Gloria approached the still open cage herself. "Are you sure he´s ready?" Miguel asked her. "He seems to be pretty injured."

Gloria gave him a flat look. "Hey, I don't tell you how to do your job." She then put on an expression of mock surprise. "Oh no, wait I do, all the time." She finished. Miguel huffed & Gloria chuckled. She then was all business however. "You´ll see, according to my research the sooner a Bird gets into rehabilitation the better their recovery." she explained.

At those words Rob´s eyes opened wide. "Sophie…do you know what they're talking about?" Rob asked.

"It was a surprise Rob." Sophie said, looking at him with a smile. "You're scheduled for flying practice."

Gloria then moved her arm inside the cage, but Miguel frowned. "Are you sure he´ll trust you?" He asked her. "He hasn't met you before."

"Tulio told me he´s very smart, I´m sure he´ll cooperate." Gloria said and then addressed herself to Rob. "Hi, my name is Gloria. It's nice to meet you." She said.

Rob looked up at the smiling human. She did seem nice. "It's nice to meet you too." He said, but he knew Gloria would just hear a squawk.

Gloria then moved her arm up in front of him, just like Miguel had done for Felipe. As Rob gave it an uncertain look Gloria said: "Well? Are you coming?"

"Come on Rob, hop onto her arm." Sophie said encouragingly. "Trust her." she added.

Glancing at her & then back at Gloria's arm in front of him, Rob hopped onto it. Gloria looked pleased. "It's nice to see you´re recovering." Gloria said.

"Good luck." Sophie said waving her wing at him as they exited the room, Miguel carrying Felipe's cage & Gloria with Rob on her arm.

Once out in the corridor the two researchers split, Miguel took Felipe to another room while Gloria walked to the end of the corridor. She made her way to a certain door, opened it & entered.

"Here we are." Gloria said.

Rob looked around to see something that could be classified as a training field. There were many perches, swings, little stairs and other objects Rob couldn´t identify. Then they headed to something that was apparently a pool, but instead water it was full with pillows and on each side of this pool was a perch.

Then Gloria moved her arm to one of the perches and Rob understood he had to hop onto it, something he did and then understood why perching was so important for him to know.

"Are you ready for your first session?" Gloria asked and Rob gave her a scared look, which Gloria apparently picked up on. "Don´t worry, you only have to fly from this perch…" She indicated the perch he was on. "…to the one you see there." she explained as he pointed at the perch at the other side of the pillow pool. "If you can´t get there the pillows will cushion your fall." she added.

Rob looked at distance he had to fly and gulped.

"Come on, you can do it!" Gloria said encouragingly.

Then Rob took a deep breath, closed his eyes, spread his wings and threw himself forward. Before he could realize it his head was buried in the pillows.

"Nice try." Gloria reassured Rob, as she gently picked him up & placed him again on the perch. "You have confidence, but it seems you´ll need a lot of practice before you can fly. But don´t worry." She added. "We have all day to do it." She finished cheerfully.

"All day!" Rob exclaimed, scared.

But of course Gloria just heard a squawk "That´s the spirit!" She exclaimed, not understanding Rob´s squawk. "We won´t leave until you manage to do it." She said firmly.

Rob looked back at the gap between him & the other perch. He had a sinking feeling that he was going to get very well acquainted with those pillows before the day was out.

* * *

Blu spent most of the day flying through the jungle and the city looking for Jewel. When he had gotten to the mango tree he had found she wasn´t there, so he started a long and tiring chase.

Where did she go? He thought, searching through the branches of a fruit tree not knowing Jewel was also flying around looking for him. An encounter that was unlikely to happen, since both were constantly moving.

Blu was tired. I should return to the hollow and wait for her there. He concluded. He therefore changed course & flew back to his hollow.

When he reached the surrounding area of his hollow he felt an object hitting him on his back. "Uh? That was weird." he said, hovering in mid-air & looking around trying to find what had hit him. Just then, another object whizzed past his head. That was close. He thought, but almost immediately after that, a rain of objects began to fall around him, some of them hitting him. "What´s going on!?" he shouted.

"Shoot him down!" a voice was heard.

I have to escape! Blu thought frantically as he flew away & tried to avoid the objects, but apparently the ones that were throwing those objects were following him. "What do you want from me?!" he shouted in panic. "Leave me alone!" He begged, but the hailstorm continued. Blu then decided to gain height & fly over the trees, & upon doing this & reaching the jungle s canopy, he noticed all the objects he was being assaulted with were nuts, fruits and rocks. He flew quickly away & began the leave the barrage behind, but just when he thought he was out of their reach, a rock hit him right on his forehead. It wasn't hard enough to knock him right out, but it made him loose stability. He managed to recover from this sufficiently to fly off, out of range of the assault.

Blu managed to fly to the city; but the blow he had received on his forehead was making him feel dizzy, something that would make it almost impossible to find Jewel & trying to go to the Center would make him an easy target. It was also too dangerous for him to go to his hollow and wait for Jewel with those mysterious attackers around. I'm…I'm pretty sure they were those Monkeys from the last time. Blu managed to conclude through his hazy thoughts. But why? I thought…thought they weren't holding a grudge… He shook his head, but the fuzziness wouldn't go away. He landed on the roof of a hut next to the sea. I can't stay here too long. He thought hazily. If they…they are looking for us we're in danger. I have to…to find Jewel and tell her about…about this or…or…" he thought but a mix of tiredness & dizziness caused him to pass out, sprawled out over the hut as the sunlight disappeared.

"Sweet dreams, enjoy them while you can, they´ll not last for long." A threatening voice was heard through the darkness.

* * *

After a long training day, Gloria returned Rob to his cage. "You did very well." She congratulated him as he hopped onto a perch and then she closed the door. "You should rest, you've had a long day." she suggested. "See you tomorrow." She said as she left the room.

"How do you feel?" Sophie asked.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Rob said. "She also said I won't need the medicine they used before and gave me a less potent one." He explained. "I managed to fly a little." he added proudly.

"That's wonderful!" Sophie exclaimed. "I won't make any noise so you can…" she began, but stopped when Miguel walked back into the room.

"This time I won't delay." Miguel said over his shoulder as he walked in. "I´ll take the Bird to the other room now."

"That´s a great idea." Gloria's sarcastic voice replied from outside the room. "Then you´ll save time tomorrow, why didn't I think of that before?"

"I know it, stop teasing me." Miguel said as he walked along the row of cages looking for someone. "Ah, here you are." He said as he stopped in front of Sophie´s cage & looked in at her. She looked back at him quizzically. "The Azure Jay rescued from those smugglers." He added, checking his roster. "Tomorrow will be your great day, you´re being released," He said.

Sophie´s eyes brightened. "Did you hear that Rob?" she asked excitedly & Rob nodded "I´ll be free tomorrow!" She said jumping from her perch and fluttering excitedly around the cage.

Looking at her excited reaction, Miguel pursed his lips. "Sometimes I think the Birds can understand every word we say." He said.

"I believe they can." Gloria said as she peered into the room.

"Is that possible?" Miguel asked.

"Tulio thinks so." Gloria said. "And others here do too, just remember about that research Jules is working on, he´s more than convinced Bird-Human communication is feasible." she explained.

Miguel looked mildly annoyed. "Yeah, that guy." He said. "To be honest, I think it's a great waste of time & money. He spends hours cooped up in that Lab, trawling through research material & scribbling down what looks to me like gibberish, Oh for sure, he comes out & does his other duties & does them very well, but I think all that energy of his could be better used by helping out more around here rather than getting so immersed in his theories. There's no evidence at all that the sounds Birds make can be translated as recognizable communication."

"Maybe not, but his pitch to Tulio was convincing enough that he authorized his research." Gloria replied. "Jules is convinced that there's something we're missing, & he's pouring great effort into tracking it down. If he doesn't succeed, it won't be for lack of trying." She then glanced at her watch. "I hate to stop our interesting chat but it's getting late." She said.

"Yes I know it." Miguel said as he grabbed Sophie's cage. "Let's go."

"Rob, I have to leave but you know those guys, they're always going so fast." Sophie called as Miguel held her cage & turned to exit the room. "I´m sorry I can´t help you anymore, but I'm so happy to be going home!" Sophie shouted with joy. "Please take care and don´t let that mean Ruby tease you. I´ll be waiting for you when you get out." she continued.

"I´ll be fine, don't worry." Rob shouted. Waving his wing at the retreating cage. "I´ll visit you for sure, but where do you live?" he asked.

"National Library of Brazil, you´ll find me there for sure, good luck!" Sophie shouted as she left the room.

"Thanks for everything!" Rob shouted, but there was no answer. The Human & Azure Jay were out of range. Rob then walked along the perch to the opposite side of the cage. He turned around & got himself comfortable, but he found his thoughts lingering on the very interesting piece of information he had just overheard. Bird-Human communication…that would be great, I just can imagine all the applications. He thought.

A few minutes passed in complete silence.

"I think you´re alone now." Ruby spoke up teasingly. "Who will defend you now?" She said & paused, but there was no answer. Frowning, she peered down to see Rob in the corner of the cage, his head tucked in his wing & fast asleep.

Ruby huffed. "Why is he so weird?" She shouted to no-one in particular, & wished she had something to throw at him.

* * *

Sophie was alone in the treatment room, happily waiting for the next day when she would finally be released. _I hope my nest is still there, If not I should find some materials for a new one_. She thought.

She continued thinking happily of all the things she would be able to do once she was free, but her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Tulio rushed into the room, startling Sophie who started to flutter around her cage. Tulio was too preoccupied to notice however. As Sophie calmed down & perched herself back in the cage, Tulio walked over to some shelves & placed some equipment on them. He then walked back towards the door & Sophie, looking at his face, saw that he was clearly disturbed. It was a marked change from his usual laid back mood.

As Tulio reached the door, Linda entered. "Tulio, I finally found you!" Linda said, hugging him, "I searched for you all day, where have you been?" She asked and then noticed Tulio´s expression. "What happened? You don´t look so good." Linda inquired, concerned.

Tulio sighed "I didn´t want to tell someone about this but I just can´t stand it." he said.

"Don´t scare me, what is it about?" Linda said, holding Tulio´s hand.

Tulio sighed again. "Do you remember we were asking ourselves where did Rob come from and how did he get all those wounds?" he asked sadly.

Sophie, listening to their conversation, cocked her head in an interested manner. The 2 Humans didn't notice.

"Yes I do, what´s the problem about that?" Linda said.

"I know what happened…" Tulio said. "That´s why I was absent all day." he added. He took a deep breath & then started to explain to Linda his discovery.

As he did so however, they didn´t notice that Sophie was listening intently. As the story unfolded Sophie's face was flooded with tears. "Rob, I´m so sorry, I never imagined that could´ve happened to you." She muttered. "I hope you never have to remember that shocking event." She begged.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi everyone, Rob The Ara Macao here with an update!

I want to thank Jixstun for his help with this chapter, a meeting with someone many of you already know will take place so I won't write more explanations, please go ahead.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"ROB!" A voice shouted.

Rob woke up breathing heavily. He would be sweating if he were biologically capable.

For some reason he was dreaming things he wasn't able to understand, just crazy & illogical dreams or…pieces of memories maybe, who knew. Most of them he forgot as soon as he opened his eyes & before he could put them together. He stood up slowly, trying not to fall & looked around. He was alone in his cage, & everything was in complete silence. It was only a nightmare. He convinced himself as he took a deep breath & tried to calm down. What's happened to me? He thought as he shook his head & made an effort to remember what he was dreaming about that could've scared him like that, but it was useless, he wasn't able to remember a single part of his dream. What´s wrong? He thought, frustrated. Once he was completely awake he walked to the front side of his cage, he then sighed & leaned his head over the bars. He didn´t have a clue in his mind that could tell him what happened to him some days ago. Was he alone? Or was there someone with him; in that case, where were they? Injured maybe? But Blu & Jewel never mentioned someone else in trouble, only him, or maybe they didn´t tell him about it to avoid worrying him. That was something he had to ask Blu when he next saw him, but a feeling inside him was telling him to not go deeper into that. _Fear. That´s what I feel_. He thought, for some weird reason he was afraid to remember.

As Rob surfaced from these disquieting thoughts he glanced up at the room outside his cage. Something felt wrong, out of the normal. He noticed a light coming from the corridor & blinked to be sure of what he was seeing. He realized the door was open, which was weird since the guard always used to close it. Maybe he had had a day off & his substitute forgot to do it, but he was sure there was something else. Is there still someone working out there? He thought.

The nightmare assured Rob he wouldn't be able to sleep for a while, so he raised his head & looked at the cage´s door, inspecting it carefully. After thinking for a moment he then started to climb the cage, until he reached the door & then silently unlatched it with his beak. _I knew this would be easy_. He thought as he slowly pushed the door open with his wing & got ready to pass through, but before he could step outside his cage, the advice Felipe & Sophie had given him before they left came into his mind:

.

* * *

.

"Now you´re awake I must introduce you to this place." Felipe said as he spread out his wing in a wide gesture that took in the whole room they were in. "This is Rio de Janeiro´s Center for Environmental Conservation." He said as Rob listened attentively.

"Centro de Conservaçāo Ambiental if you want to be more precise with the name." Sophie interjected.

"Fine…that´s the name if you speak Portuguese." Felipe said.

"Yes it's true." Sophie said looking at Rob. "As Felipe told you before, this place is meant to protect the environment in general, & more specifically the Birds & the Sanctuary, am I right?" Sophie said looking to Felipe, who nodded.

"Yes you are." Felipe answered. "The Sanctuary is a place where many of us have our home & families." He said. "We know you aren´t from here Rob, but you should give this place a look, it has everything a Bird could want." He said in an encouraging tone. "This is a really good place for a Bird to settle."

"Yes you will love it." Sophie added. "You could settle there & enjoy life. I personally prefer life in the city, but sometimes I visit the jungle & spend a wonderful time there."

"Yes, & you can ask us for help with that if you want…but that will happen later, when you´re out. So, let´s continue telling you about the Center." Felipe corrected, understanding that that was a topic for another time. He then continued with his explanation. "You´ll see this place isn´t so bad once you get used to it. I know you can´t be out in the jungle & do all what you want right now, but I think that's necessary if you want to be healthy again; furthermore they take care of you, feed you…" Felipe said but then paused & thought for some seconds. "But…"

"But what?" Rob asked from his usual position on the cage´s floor.

"Just like in some other places run by humans there are rules that sometimes only they understand. Your behavior, for instance, must be cooperative with whatever they say." Felipe said in a serious tone.

"What do you mean by cooperative?" Rob asked, confused.

"Unfortunately." Felipe continued. "If there´s a moment you don´t stay calm when they´re treating you, even if you're only scared it doesn´t matter, they might use a sedative on you; or if you feel an itching on your wing & take off your bandages or splints they'll surely make use of the famous & feared cone around your neck to stop you from doing it again, & finally…" he sighed. "In my point of view the worst thing they can do..." he said, showing a mild anger. "...If you have what they call antisocial behavior like hurting someone, & I mean physically, they´ll isolate you from the others & you´ll surely lose your chance to be released because they´ll think you won´t be able to fit into a group in the wild. I suppose in that case the only fate that will await you could be spending the rest of your life in a Zoo or a research center like this to be part of experiments." He explained with a serious tone.

Felipe´s last comment was frightening; Rob was surprised to know how complex everything was. He'd never thought about what kind of problems he could get into in this place. As with any social group there were rules to obey so he should´ve expected it. "I understand." Rob said, nodding seriously. A second thought then occurred to him though. "I got everything but…why is wearing a cone so bad?" he asked, confused.

"You should try it. I´m sure you will look so cute when they put it on you." Ruby said with a sweet voice from her usual spying position above them. "You'll look just like an adorable & exotic feathered lamp." She continued as she put her wings together in a gesture of mock appreciation.

"If I wasn't in this cage I'd already have taught you a lesson." Sophie shouted up at Ruby, giving her an irritated look.

"You should try it, maybe you´ll become infected." Ruby said mischievously, spreading her wing & showing a pink zone without a single feather on it.

"You don´t scare me with that, if that's all you have to say to threaten me, then we have more important issues to attend to." Sophie said as she came down from her perch to reach Rob´s level.

"Don't pay any attention to her." Sophie said to Rob. "They gave her many tests & I already know she doesn´t have anything contagious, they said her condition is probably an inherited problem. She's not physically violent like Felipe said, but she likes to throw around insults, jibes & make use of her condition to threaten others." She muttered to Rob, but then glanced across to see Felipe looking at them in mild annoyance. "Sorry, please continue Felipe." Sophie finished apologetically.

"Thanks." Felipe said clearing his throat & continued his explanation. "So, why is the cone like a punishment you ask?" He confirmed Rob´s question & Rob nodded. "You don´t see why a cone is so bad because you don´t know what it means." He said. "I haven´t worn one myself, but I once spoke with a parakeet that did, &…" He paused.

"And what?" Rob asked, curiously.

"Well, they don´t call it the cone of shame for nothing." Felipe answered. "He said that it produces a feeling that you won´t fully understand until you have to go through it. He only was able to say that wearing it will make you unable to move freely, fly or even preen your own feathers." Felipe said sadly, & Rob gave him a scared look. Now the cone clearly was something to fear & he didn't want to meet it first-hand.

"Please don't scare him." Sophie asked. "It can't be so bad."

Felipe chuckled. "Ha-ha, you'll be fine. As long as you follow the rules you don´t have anything to worry about." he added laughing & moved his wing with the intent of slapping Rob´s back to lighten the chat, but stopped his movement when recalled what happened the last time he did it.

"I hope I don't have to go through anything like that." Rob said.

"Just do what they tell you & stay in your cage. If you do, you'll have nothing to worry about & will surely enjoy your time here, most of them are very kind." Sophie then paused however as a frown came over her brow. "Well, except if you have the bad luck to be checked out by that one careless guy who grabs you like…" She began, but Felipe interrupted her.

"Now who is the one scaring him?" He said, giving her a look.

"Oops. Sorry, you don´t have to worry about it, he isn't so bad." Sophie corrected herself.

"If you say so" Rob said, a little uncertainly.

.

* * *

.

_Now I remember he didn´t teach me how preening is done… _Rob thought looking at his feathers. _That's something I'll have to investigate later. Now I´m curious about what´s happening out there._

Rob hesitated on the threshold of his open cage door. He really wanted to investigate what was out there, but Felipe's warning about behaving himself was still fresh in his mind. It wouldn't hurt, would it? Just taking a look around wasn't on the same level as being violent right? Besides, there didn't seem to be anyone around...

Making up his mind, he jumped from the cage, flapping his wings & putting into practice what he learned some hours earlier to land smoothly on the floor. Rob turned around to make sure he hadn´t woken anyone up. All the birds in the cages adjoining his were asleep & undisturbed & as he looked up & spotted Ruby in the upper cage, she was sleeping soundly too. _Good. No one noticed me_. He thought & turning back around, made his way silently towards the door.

Rob peered out into the corridor to see it large, dark & empty. _This place looks scary at night._ He thought, & then saw the source of the light he had noticed earlier was coming from another room further down. _There it is. _He walked into the corridor & made his way down towards it.

Once Rob reached the room he saw that the door was slightly ajar. He cautiously poked his head around the door & blinked at the sight of the room inside. Unlike the other rooms he had seen, which had medical equipment, cages & some computers, this one wasn´t anything like that. There were more computers than any other room, strange equipment was scattered around, long wires going & coming from everywhere & some metallic instruments with different shapes. Rob was impressed by all the stuff that was inside that room, it was almost like the inside of a spaceship but that would probably be an overstatement, it was just a lab.

_What kind of place is this?_ Rob asked himself as he walked into the room & looked around curiously at all of the things in it. He then spotted a whiteboard on one wall of the room with many symbols written on it. Curious, he moved towards it & started to check it out. I don´t know what they´re doing here but it seems very complex. He concluded as his eyes scanned the board. "MID Array Specifications." He read. _I´ve no idea what that means_. His gaze suddenly stopped on a certain part of the workings. _What´s this?_ He thought & quickly fluttered up to reach the board & grabbed onto one of its borders with his claws. He inspected the section of workings more closely. _If someone tried to use a machine with this data, I´m sure it will explode or at least start to break apart._ He concluded as he analyzed the writings. _Summing units of different measurement systems is an elemental mistake, you can´t combine feet per second if you´re referring to the International System meters per second, I think someone will have big troubles if this data remains incorrect._ He thought as he grabbed a marker with one of his claws & opened it with his beak. Confident about what he was doing, he crossed out the wrong line & wrote down a corrected version of it. "That´s it, much better." He babbled with the marker´s cap still in his beak. He returned the marker to its place & jumped down to the floor, then stopped as what he had just done caught up with him. "Wait...why do I know what those things mean? & most strangely...why was I able to correct them?" Rob asked himself as he tried to think, but once again his memory provided no answer. He knew the plans were wrong, but he didn't know how he knew.

Shaking his head, Rob moved away & hopped up onto a table. He then walked around a group of monitors & almost walked right into a researcher who was sitting just in front of him. Rob flinched & quickly covered his face with his wing as he cringed away. _They got me!_ He thought as he waited for the researcher to grab him, imagining himself wearing the cone of shame or being locked away forever in a zoo with a tag saying: Green-winged macaw…but some seconds passed & nothing happened. Rob slowly peeked out from under his wing to realize the researcher had his head over the desk. Not only that, he was in a deep slumber, probably caused by fatigue. I´m saved. Rob thought with relief as he recovered his breath. _I got the scare of my life, or at least, the part of it I can remember_. He thought.

That would have been a good moment to leave but Rob´s curiosity to know what was going on in that room was too strong. The researcher was slumped over the desk, eyes closed & snoring gently & as Rob moved cautiously closer he could see that the desk was covered with notes, plans & sketches featuring diagrams, formulas & scribbled equations. Much of it much erased & rewritten. _What're you doing here?_ He thought curiously as he glanced between the mess of work & the researchers sleeping face. He looked over to the researchers other side & saw a bank of computers, so as quietly as he could, he walked around the researcher to get closer to them so he could take a look at what was on them. As he looked at them, the closest screen called his attention. He focused on a window where words were appearing.

Hey Jules, you there? The Glowing words appeared on the screen.

They were closely followed another line down by: Don´t tell me you´re sleeping.

Come on, will you miss this? Another line appeared, & Rob concluded it was a kind of conversation.

Answer me now or I won´t offer to share this data with you again, I´m sure you´ll regret it. The other person was apparently upset.

I´m going to count to 3 & that´s it. The other person threatened.

One…

Rob glanced uneasily at the sleeping researcher. This sounded important but it looked like he was going to miss out.

Two… The Countdown continued on the screen. Against his common sense & before he could reconsider the action, Rob raised his claw to the keyboard, quickly typed out Hi & pressed Enter. His message appeared right below the other person´s last line.

Some seconds passed & a message appeared again: You like pressure, do you? Fine, here's what I promised you, the person wrote & a chart appeared in the screen: You´re about to download a file.

Rob was committed now, so he tapped Enter again & a file started to download.

You´ll never guess how I found this data. Another message appeared.

Rob typed out: How?

When I was searching the Internet for some information for my own projects I managed to access some encrypted Databases. One of them contained a bunch of experimental data & reports that I think is right up your alley. Can you believe it? It was probably from someone who had pursued similar theories before & I'm pretty sure it will be useful to your work. It doesn't have much technical explanations, only theories & some of them you have already talked to me about but it´s still really good reference material. I gotta be honest, I thought your ideas were a little out there when you talked seriously about your research, but this document shows you weren´t the only one thinking along those lines. That'll teach me to doubt Science huh?

The other person had apparently gotten over his irritation & was now chatting, or Rob supposed, typing, away quite freely. As fascinating as Rob found all this, he couldn't help but worry what would happen should he expected to participate more in the conversation & risk giving himself away. The other person's typing continued:

Anyways, I dug a little deeper about the source of this research data & the project was apparently abandoned due to some political issues so I think this will be the only data you´ll be able to get. I hope it's enough. That´s all I got for you today, if you need some help when you start to assemble your equipment just tell me. Also don't forget to forward that data I need on molecular synthesis patterns. The person answered.

Then the file finished downloading. There it is, enjoy. Sorry I can't chat more but I gotta go help Dad in the Shop. Major drag, I know, but he needs me. But man, I know I can come up with something to turn everything around & you've been a great help. I just know I can come up with something great! Take care man, See ya! The person wrote & the conversation chart turned grey.

Rob breathed a silent sigh of relief that he hadn't given himself away, but this little ´chat´ had fanned the flames of his curiosity, so still ignoring his instinct constantly telling him to leave, he looked at the downloaded file, glanced over at the mouse & placing his claw on it, moved it until the pointer was over the file. He then double-clicked the mouse button.

Suddenly a window appeared on the screen showing a file that seemed to contain a document whose first page caught Rob´s attention: CONFIDENTIAL. He read. RIO DE JANEIRO´S RESEARCH INSTITUTE. Then he clicked & turned the page showing an extensive document. ARA PROJECT. He read a headline, & then he raised an eye ridge as continued looking through the document, some phrases catching his attention: BINATIONAL COOPERATION PROJECT…HUMAN-BIRD COMMUNICATION RESEARCH…ASSIGNED RESEARCH LAB: #14…GENERAL THEORIES…ARTIFICIAL ENHANCEMENT OF BIRDS´ INTELLIGENCE TO ALLOW COMMUNICATION…MANIPULATION OF BIRD´S DNA…LANGUAGE MATRIX THEORY… _This is incredible_. Rob thought as he read on, fascinated. FEASIBILITY OF HUMAN MATRIX´S RECONFIGURATION…THEORIES ABOUT PRACTICAL APPLICATION… he jumped from one page to another MATRIX UNIFIED THEORY: DR. TENNYS…but stopped when he reached the end of the document. _Something is missing here, this is only an incomplete headline._ Rob thought as he returned to the document´s index & saw many gaps in it. _I think someone didn´t have time to finish their research._ He concluded.

_So, this is the Jules guy Gloria & Miguel were talking about_. Rob thought as he turned to look at the researcher sleeping at his desk. "Bird-Human communication, you´re working on something amazing!" Rob said excitedly, but quickly covered his beak with his wings as he realized he had spoken aloud.

Jules jolted awake due to Rob´s squawk & sat up in his chair, but the suddenness of the motion knocked his glasses off of his head. Rob stood there frozen in fear as Jules' gaze swung around upon him, but as Jules merely blinked blearily a few times & squinted at him it appeared that Jules couldn't see properly without his glasses. Jules then leaned over in his chair & fished around on the floor. Locating his glasses he grabbed them but as he did so there was a flapping noise. Sitting back up quickly & fumbling his glasses back onto his face, Jules blinked as he focused back onto the source of the noise, but all that was there was a little yellow feather just lying on the desk. Jules blinked at it a few more times & then sighed. He removed his glasses again & closing his eyes he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Seeing things now." He muttered under his breath. He replaced his glasses again & turned around to where the monitors were. Seeing the conversation log he blinked again & looked puzzled as he read it, but then as he turned his attention to the downloaded files, he began to read & his expression slowly changed into an absorbed & fascinated interest.

_That was close_. Rob thought panting as he landed in the corridor. He had used Jules' moment of distraction to put Felipe's lessons to good use. _Those flying lessons saved me, I never imagined I could fly so fast_. He thought as he recovered his breath. Listening for a moment to the room he had just vacated, he relaxed as it became clear that Jules was totally absorbed in the information Rob had helped provide him. Rob quickly but quietly walked back towards the recovery room.

As Rob passed next to an opened door, he stopped & peered inside. "Oh my goodness!" He called as he saw a heap of crates containing nothing more than fruit. Realizing he had just made noise again, he checked himself & glanced worriedly up & down the corridor, but a few seconds passed & nothing happened. He looked back at the fruit hungrily. He hadn't eaten fruit since the day he met Blu & Jewel as all the time he had been staying in the recovery room he was fed only with a special processed Macaw food with added vitamins & minerals to help his recovery, something he didn't like too much since its flavor was terrible. _No, no I can´t_. He thought as he tried to restrain himself, remembering the punishments he could get, but he succumbed to the desire & ran inside the storage room.

A short time later, Rob entered the recovery room almost crawling. _Why did I do it?_ He thought regretfully, still with bits of fruit on his beak. _Urgh,_ _My stomach hurts_. He thought as he pressed his belly with his wings & sprawled over on his back. _I ate fruits I didn´t even know existed._ He thought; the memory of his fruit binge still fresh in his mind. After some minutes of lying on the floor he motivated himself to move again as he knew staying there wasn't an option. He managed to stand up & slowly walked over to his cage. He looked up. Flying wasn´t an option due to his stomachache so he, once again put Felipe's earlier lessons to use & began to use his beak & claws to climb up as silently as he could until he reached his still open cage door. _Thanks Felipe, your training saved me._ He thought gratefully, though with a twinge of conscience that he had ignored Felipe & Sophie's warnings. Once inside the cage he grabbed the door with his beak & closed it carefully. "Safe." He muttered as he walked slowly towards a corner trying to not throw up. Once he had settled down & found a comfortable position he found his stomach was also beginning to settle a little, & his little adventure & unexpected dinner was enough to tire him out, so he quickly fell asleep.

.

* * *

.

It was almost noon when Blu opened his eyes. _Where am I?_ He thought as he got to his claws. His head hurt a little so he rubbed it gently with his wing as he looked around. A memory clicked & he recognized the place as Copacabana´s beach. This memory was rapidly followed by a recollection of the events that had happened to him. "Oh no! I overslept!" Blu shouted. "I have to find Jewel before those Monkeys harm her!" He said as he spread his wings & flew off at high speed, he would need help to face the Marmosets but any detour would mean a valuable time lost, his fear was to find Jewel trapped by them.

But what will I do when I find her? Blu thought fight wasn´t a viable option once he'd assessed the situation, the last time they were only lucky. We have to escape & search for refuge at the Center. He thought & flapped his wings with strength & getting mentally ready to endure the Marmosets attack.

"Blu!" Someone shouted. Startled, Blu spread his wings & braked his flight, rapidly slowing to a hover. Turning in mid-air he looked towards the source of the voice. An expression of surprise came across his face as he saw who it was, & he flapped across & landed next to them on a nearby branch.

"I have to tell you something." She said to him.

.

* * *

.

Jewel was at the club talking with Nico & Pedro; she was looking for the Monkeys to tell them to not harm Blu or in the case she found Blu herself, discretely warn him about the Monkeys attack.

"So Blu isn´t here." Jewel concluded.

"Yep, he left yesterday." Pedro answered. He already knew Jewel would show up looking for Blu, so he & Nico were ready to cover their friend's back.

"Where did he go?" Jewel asked.

"We don´t know, he just said he wanted to clear his mind & left without saying anything." Nico lied.

Jewel thought for a few seconds. "And…nothing weird has happened here, right?" she said.

Nico & Pedro exchanged a confused look. "Weird? Like what?" Nico asked.

"Oh, I don´t know, some unwanted visits, maybe." Jewel said vaguely. She wanted to know if the Marmosets had already been there, but she couldn't ask directly. Doing so would perhaps give away that it was her who had hired them, something that the guys almost certainly wouldn't react well to.

"Mmm…Nope." Pedro answered. "Nothing like that. Why do you ask?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing, just a thought. I´ve been recalling when those Monkeys attacked us, you know they're still around." Jewel rushed to answer.

Nico waved a wing dismissively. "Oh don't worry about them. They´re like mercenaries, they only divert from their normal activities like stealing when someone hires them, & the one who sicced them on you & Blu was that ugly Cockatoo. With him out of the picture & no profit for them, they won't bother you." Nico reassured her.

"Yes, now I know my fears were baseless." Jewel said, now regretting having hired them. She had been angry & hadn't really thought it through. "Well, I have to go & look for Blu; we have too much to talk about." She added. "See you later." She waved goodbye & took off.

Nico & Pedro waved back. "Good luck." Nico shouted after her.

"And tell your new friend that will be a pleasure for us to introduce him to everyone here." Pedro shouted up. Nico sharply poked him in his side & gave him a Look.

"Pedro!" He hissed. "Why did you tell her that, now she knows we didn't tell her everything." Nico explained.

"Oops, my mistake" Pedro said apologetically.

Jewel smirked as she flew away. Pedro's last comment had given her an idea._ Rob…the Center, that´s it! _She thought. Why didn´t I think of that before? He must be hiding out there. She concluded as she angled her flight path towards the Center.

.

* * *

.

Jewel was flying back to the jungle. _I have to find Blu before those Monkeys find him; I don't know what they're capable of_. She thought. As she continued her flight, she spotted a blue speck moving at a great distance from her, so she hastened her flight to catch up._ I found him!_ She thought excitedly as she came closer. "Blu!" she shouted. Apparently hearing her, the speck halted its flight momentarily & alighted on a branch. Jewel rapidly closed the intervening distance, but as she drew close she stopped & hovered, her excitement evaporating as she saw that it was just an Azure Jay.

The Azure Jay regarded Jewel curiously as she landed on the branch near to her. Before she could apologize for her mistake however, the other Bird turned her head & addressed someone Jewel couldn't see. "Do you know her?" The Azure Jay asked & another Bird stepped out from behind some leaves. Jewel's heart quickened as she saw that it was Blu.

"Jewel!" Blu shouted as their eyes met. He flew towards Jewel & tackle-hugged her, almost bowling them both off of the branch. "I missed you!" He exclaimed as he hugged her.

"Me too Blu." Jewel said returning the hug warmly. She was relieved that the Marmosets hadn't found Blu before she had. She would have to find some way of slipping away sometime to find them & cancel the deal, something that would probably mean she´ll have to pay them, but it would be for the best not to have them interfering any more.

The Azure Jay cleared her throat a little loudly. Blu & Jewel suddenly remembered her presence & broke up the hug, smiling a little sheepishly.

"So she´s Jewel?" The Azure Jay asked.

"Yes she is." Blu confirmed. "Jewel, this is Sophie. She met Rob at the Center & has been helping him with his recovery." He explained.

"Nice to meet you Sophie." Jewel said pleasantly. "Any friend of Rob is a friend of mine."

"The same goes for you Jewel. I hope you won't mind when I say you both make a nice couple." Sophie said, causing both Macaws to blush.

"You´re so kind." Jewel managed to say. "Right Blu?" She asked & Blu nodded in agreement.

"Did they release you today?" Blu asked Sophie.

"Yes they did." Sophie answered. "Just this morning, & Felipe was released yesterday."

"Great!" Blu exclaimed but then thought for a little. "Oh, but wait…that means Rob is alone?" he asked.

"Yes he is." Sophie answered. "Well not technically…that Ruby is still there." she said with a huff.

Blu snorted. "Yeah, I know what you mean." Blu said. "Staying with her is almost the same as if he were alone." he said with a chuckle.

"You can say that again." Sophie said rolling her eyes. "But don't worry, he´ll be fine." She assured them. "He´s already awake & recovering, quite quickly I would say, & Felipe & I gave him some pointers on how to behave in the Centre."

"I see you 2 are getting along." Jewel interjected a little upset.

"Oh, yes, a little." Blu said. "Sorry Jewel I didn't mean to ignore you. Things have been a little hectic today..." He suddenly froze, his expression shifting to one of panic. "Oh! Yes! I completely forgot!" He turned to Jewel & said: "Jewel we have to leave!" he shouted in panic.

Jewel was taken aback by Blu's sudden mood shift. "What? Why?" She asked, confused.

"We don´t have time, we have to go!" Blu said. He turned back to Sophie. "It was nice to see you again Sophie, but we must leave." Blu apologized as he tugged on Jewel's wing, pulling her along.

"Don´t worry. I know you have things to sort out." Sophie said.

"See you later!" Blu said. He spread his wings & spoke over his shoulder to Jewel. "C'mon! Follow me, quick!" Without waiting for a response he took off & Jewel gave Sophie a quick wave before following suit.

"Good luck." Sophie said, waving her wing as both blue Macaws disappeared into the Jungle. She had considered telling Blu about what she discovered about Rob when she had listened to what Tulio had said last night, but after musing a little she decided to reveal it only to Rob & when he was ready.

.

* * *

.

Blu flew fast through the jungle; occasionally looking back to make sure Jewel was still behind him.

"Blu, where are we going?" Jewel called.

"To a safe place. We are in big trouble." Blu answered, winded.

"What kind of trouble?" Jewel asked again.

"I´ll...explain it to you when...when we arrive." Blu said gasping. He wasn´t used to flying that fast & talking at the same time, so he couldn´t speak more.

"Fine, let´s go then" Jewel said, leaving explanations for later.

.

* * *

.

At the same time & without noticing it, a shadow started to follow them from a relatively short distance. "Soon" the shadow said. "Soon you´ll regret of all you´ve done." he sentenced.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone and Happy Valentines. Thanks for your comments they are always welcome. I hope you have liked the story until this point, but that was just the begining. The real story is about to start.

Ready for the next chapter? Here we go!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Blu was flying like a crazy Bird, anyone could tell someone was chasing him & Jewel was barely managing to keep up. Blu´s mind was only focused on reaching the Center where they could be safe from another Monkey attack. They wouldn´t try anything with so many humans around & once there Blu could rest a little from all the stress that the situation was piling on him.

After some minutes of flight a building was in sight, Blu & Jewel had finally reached the Center. _We made it!_ Blu thought with relief as he flapped his tired wings, they hadn't run into the Marmosets, that could be considered a success by itself & now they wouldn´t be able to lay a hand on them while they were there. They would be able to get some help & make a defense plan, everything seemed to be fine now. Without stopping Blu flew directly towards Linda´s window, landed on the edge, & started to knock on it worriedly. "Linda, Linda, open up please!" he begged as Jewel, confused by his behavior, landed next to him.

Finally, drawn by all the noise Blu was making, Linda appeared in the room & seeing who was at the window, she rapidly crossed to & opened it. Without stopping to say hello, Blu quickly flew inside & landed onto the bed, embracing a pillow with his wings like it was a lifebelt to someone drowning at sea. "We're safe now." he muttered trying to catch his breath as Jewel joined him on the bed.

"Are you OK?" Jewel asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine now." Blu said, beginning to calm down.

Linda who after opening the window had watched Blu's actions with surprise walked towards the bed. "Blu, you´re back." She said. "I waited for you last night at dinner but you didn´t come." She said with a concerned note in her voice. She then looked at Jewel standing beside him. "And Jewel's here too!" She exclaimed putting her hands together. "It's wonderful to see you 2 together again." She said warmly.

Jewel gave Linda a slight inclination of her head, which was as much as a greeting as she normally gave her. Linda wasn't offended though. She knew that Jewel still wasn't totally comfortable around Humans, but did her best for Blu's sake. After what had happened yesterday Linda wanted to ask Blu if everything was fine about the little disagreement they had had before, but took note that Blu seemed exhausted. "You´re tired, aren´t you?" She asked & Blu nodded. Then Linda spotted a little bump on Blu´s forehead, she could speculate all day about the origin of that bump but decided to not mention it. Despite her concern she understood that right now wasn't the moment to ask him about it, Blu needed to feel comfortable & to relax a little. "Come along, I´ll give you both some water, & I´ll also show you what I wanted to show you last night." She knew exactly what to do to cheer up Blu, it would be the perfect surprise. She walked over to the door & looked back at the bed. Blu (who had caught his breath & calmed down a little, but still looked exhausted) nodded & with a wing gesture to Jewel hopped off the bed to follow Linda. Jewel hesitated for a moment but then followed, a faint frown on her brow.

The 2 Macaws & the Human walked across the corridor & entered a room that was used by the researchers to have coffee breaks after work. Once there Linda served some water to them, especially for Blu who was gulping it down like he was a dry sponge. Jewel looked on with surprise. Blu was behaving like someone who had been lost for days in the desert. Even that time they were chained & wandering around the city after escaping from the smugglers, he never complained about food or water. She was the one who had gravitated to the fruit stand & discovered Blu's funny way to eat fruit. Blu's dehydration seemed to speak volumes about all he had to go through to find her & gave her a twinge of guilt that she had been busy sticking a squad of Marmosets on his tail.

Linda hadn't failed to notice Blu's antics either. "You shouldn´t drink too much Blu or you won't be able to fly." She gently warned him.

Blu stopped drinking as he realized she was right. The last thing he wanted now was to be unable to fly. He also recalled he hadn't had a bite to eat since the day before, but some water was enough for now.

Seeing that Blu & Jewel had had their fill of water, Linda moved over to the door again & gestured for them to follow her, which they did. As they continued their way through the main corridor, Blu & Jewel walked in silence behind Linda. With the other people walking around it might have been a better idea that she carry them or had them perch on her shoulders, but Linda had become familiar with Jewel's dislike of being handled or otherwise too close to Humans so a tacit agreement had been reached that she wouldn't ask it of her or allow Blu to do it when in her presence. She still kept a careful eye on them & kept them near her to avoid accidents however.

Jewel was musing about all she had to talk with Blu: about Blu´s behavior today, her big mistake hiring the Marmosets to find him & the kids' issue, Blu was too scared to talk about. _Let´s solve this in order._ Jewel thought as she finally spoke. "Blu, now can you tell me why we had to escape & from who?" she asked.

Blu turned his head towards her & she was struck by the worried expression on his face. "You´ll never imagine what happened yesterday." he said.

"What? What was it?" Jewel asked curiously, her mind a whirl. What could have happened? Had that ugly Cockatoo come back? The last she had seen of him was him being dragged through the window on the plane, but the jungle gossip grapevine hadn't heard a peep about him since. If not that then what?

"Can you believe I was attacked with rocks & other stuff?" Blu said.

"Rocks?" Jewel asked, shocked. Who would do that? Why would anyone... Jewel's train of thought ground to an abrupt halt. _Oh No..._ She thought as she experienced a horrible premonition of what Blu was about to say.

"Yes, they even hit me with one." Blu continued, pointing with his primary feather at a small blow on his forehead, something Jewel hadn't noticed before. "I´m pretty sure those Monkeys from before are behind this, that´s why we had to escape. Probably they are looking for revenge. We don´t know what they can do to us." he added, shuddering.

The faint stirring of guilt was now a full-blown whirlpool in Jewel's gut. _This is my fault._ She thought wretchedly. She had stuck the Marmosets on Blu when she wasn't thinking clearly, & Blu had gotten hurt because of it. Now she knew why he was acting weird.

"Blu, I…" She said, trying to come up with words to try & explain, to apologize, but the words wouldn't come. How could she say that it was all her fault? How could she explain to Blu she was the one who had hired the Marmosets to find Blu & unintentionally allowed them to hurt him?

Seeing her hesitance but misinterpreting the reason, Blu rushed to reassure her. "Hey, it's Ok Jewel." He said. "I'm fine, & we're both safe now. They won't be able to get us in here." He said with confidence.

Jewel gave a smile & nod to that, but as they continued walking down the corridor she was racking her brain to try to continue her explanation. She still hadn't managed to come up with anything when Blu pointed his wing feather at something through a door they were just passing.

"Jewel look, it's Rob." Blu's face lit up as he spotted Rob inside the room, he was lying on the cage´s floor & leaning his head over the bars. He looked bored. "Hey Rob! Over here!" Blu called, waving his wing.

Rob raised his head, looking for the one who had called him, then saw Blu & Jewel standing outside of the room. He quickly stood up & waved his bandaged wing to them. "Hi!" he shouted with joy as he climbed onto the cage´s bars. He had had another short rehabilitation session earlier but was now bored to death since there was no one to talk with him. The other Birds were out of range & Ruby was giving him the silent treatment. Apparently Ruby had become annoyed because Rob was not responding to her teasing comments, & had accidentally discovered that Rob was prone to get upset when someone did not speak to him, in other words he was more affected by silence than being insulted & she was enjoying herself taking advantage of her last discovery, but now Blu's visit put an end to her fun.

"Blu! Wait up, I'm coming to see you!" Rob shouted excitedly.

"Can't you & that other Bird shut up? It´s already too noisy in here." Ruby yelled as she peered down into Rob´s cage & forgetting her original silent plan. Her annoyance was replaced by curiosity when she saw Rob was climbing towards his cage door. "What are you doing?" She asked, but Rob didn't answer her & proceeded to open the door easily. In spite of herself, Ruby was surprised & a little bit impressed. "Who taught you to do that?" She asked.

"No one did. I just deduced how to do it." He explained. "See you later." He said as he exited his cage, closed the door, & spreading his wings, flew across the room to the door.

"Hey come back, you can't leave just like that!" Ruby shouted in annoyance, but Rob was now too far out of range to hear her. Ruby sat back on her perch, looking annoyed. "I don´t know why I had to meet this exasperating Bird." she huffed to herself.

Rob landed softly in front of Blu & Jewel.

"Blu, Jewel, nice to see you." Rob said, excited.

"Rob. Nice to see you too. And you can fly! That's wonderful." Blu said happily, feeling relieved that he was recovering.

"Yes I can." Rob said. "They´ve given me some rehabilitation sessions." He explained as he flapped his wings & hovered a little. "Do you see?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes I do." Blu said. He looked over at Jewel. "Isn't that great Jewel?" he said happily. "Rob's recovering!"

Jewel gave a smile. The guilt was still there, but she'd have to deal with it later. "That's wonderful Rob. I'm glad to see you're recovering." She said with genuine warmth.

Rob nodded happily, but then his curiosity came to the fore. "Where are you 2 going?" He asked.

"Linda is going to show us something." Blu explained as he looked around at Linda. She, for her part, had taken note of the impromptu meeting the Macaw's were holding & was waiting patiently for them to finish. As Blu looked up at her, she sensed her cue to enter the conversation.

She knelt down on the floor to be closer to Rob's level & said "Rob." In a warm tone. "You look very good." She recalled what Tulio told her last night about him. _He´s overcoming that event._ She thought. Then she had an idea. "Rob, would you like to come with us? Maybe you'll like it too." She asked, thinking that thing she was going to show Blu would cheer up Rob too.

"Really? Me?" Rob said excitedly. "I´d love to. I was really bored in that cage, you'll really make my day." He explained, smiling.

Linda of course was only able to hear squawks & chirps, but her long association with Blu had given her an insight into whether a Bird was willing to do something or not. She understood that he was accepting her invitation. "Excellent. Let's go then." She said as she stood up again. She then turned around & started walking again.

As the 3 Macaws followed her along the corridor, Rob was looking around. _There´s a lot of movement today._ He thought as he watched all the researchers walking from one side to another, some of them carrying Birds in cages. Then they passed by the Lab he had visited the night before & since the door was open Rob took the opportunity to glance inside. There appeared to be no-one there at the moment, but Rob was able to see from the door the Whiteboard he had made the corrections on the previous evening. He was pleased to see that they were still there, & they had also been ringed by the marker & linked by lines & arrows to even more calculations, though Rob couldn't read them from that distance. It appeared that that Jules guy had appreciated Rob's help & had used it as a basis to advance his work. Rob wondered where he was, but not too hard. He was excited to be outside of his cage, this time with permission. This time there was no risk of losing his chance to be released in the jungle.

That thought stirred a question in his mind & he said: "Blu?"

"What´s up?" Blu asked.

"Is it so interesting to be free in the jungle? Everyone talks a lot about how wonderful it is." Rob asked as he recalled Felipe & Sophie´s comments on the subject.

"Well." Blu said. "Let´s just say you´ll never get bored there. You'll always have something to do, you can find fun every day."

"I see." Rob said. "So, did you have fun all this time?" he asked curiously.

"Err…well, not exactly." Blu said hesitantly. "There's been some...issues I had to attend to." He continued with a sideways glance at Jewel. She frowned slightly, but didn't say anything, so Blu went on: "Those issues aren't solved yet though. I´ll need some time to tell you the complete story." He said.

Rob just nodded at that & the group continued on. As they turned a corner, Linda bumped into Gloria. They greeted each other & then Gloria saw the Spix macaws & Rob behind her. "Blu & Jewel...& Rob too?" She said with a note of surprise. She looked back up at Linda. "Not that I mind Rob getting a bit more exercise & socializing Linda, but may I ask where you're going with him?" She asked.

"I´m taking them to see the room I was working on yesterday, I invited Rob to come too. Is that OK?" Linda explained.

"Oh I see. Yes, of course it's OK. You know how to take care of him right?" Gloria asked & Linda nodded. "Today we have a lot of work to do. Some smugglers were captured recently & many new Birds arrived, so we are up to our necks in work." She said. She went on: "Plus I had a serious talk with the guy who carries the inventory at the storage room, can you believe he had registered some pieces of fruit that magically disappeared, so I told him we had two explanations: he wasn´t able to count something as simple as fruit or the Birds came out of their cages at night & threw a party in the storage room. I also told him to close the door when he leaves, 4 or 5 missing Mangoes are nothing compared to…" she said checking her roster, "...25 pieces, I know it´s only fruit but it's also part of our inventory & must be treated with care." She explained, stopping to catch her breath as Linda only nodded to all her comments.

After listening to that, Rob gulped knowing he was the one who took those 25 pieces. _Did I eat all that? _He thought, with a touch of guilt. _Well I only bit into some of them, eating 25 fruits would´ve been physically impossible._ Then he recalled placing all the leftovers in a trash can, he never imagined they had everything so well registered as to detect some missing, & many of them delicious, fruits.

"Rob's already had his treatment & won´t need any more medicine until tomorrow." Gloria explained. She then recalled something. "Oh, one other thing, If not sure if Tulio told you, but he's out again. He should be back tonight." She added.

"Yes he did." Linda answered. "I know you're all busy, & I'll keep an eye on Rob. He´ll be fine, don't worry."

Gloria smiled. "Excellent. Some exercise would be nice for him rather than being in his cage all day." Gloria said. "Well, I have to get to work. See you later." She said as she walked off & entered a room.

"Wow, they are pretty stressed." Linda said & turned to see Rob. "Did you hear? You´ll spend some time with us, I´m pretty sure it will be fun." Linda informed Rob & he nodded in agreement.

They continued on down the corridor, dodging around the other researchers as they bustled about. The group then made their way down a side-corridor leaving the activity behind them. Linda then stopped at a door. "Here's what I wanted to show you." Linda said as she opened the door of the room.

Upon seeing the room Blu's eyes opened wide. Linda had arranged the room like a mini version of their old Bookstore in Minnesota. There was a bookshelf with some of Blu´s favorite books, a desk with a computer, a printer & a pile of unsorted books that Blu would be happy to classify, all next to a window in order to make full use of daylight for reading. There was also a sofa that Blu didn't remember, but it helped complete the cozy atmosphere of the room. His old cage stood in a corner.

"I had some free time, so I tried to make this room more comfortable since it's big enough." Linda said as she walked in & indicated the transformed room with a gesture of her hand. "It's not everything obviously..." She added as she indicated the boxes of her stuff stacked in the corner. "...but I think it makes it more homely. What do you think?" She asked as she reached the center of the room & turned round to face Rob, Blu & Jewel who had followed her in.

The 3 Macaws were looking around the room with varying expressions. Rob looked fascinated, Jewel was eying the setup with a touch of disfavor, but Blu looked absolutely thrilled. He looked up at Linda & without warning he flapped up into Linda´s arms & hugged her. "Thanks, thanks. First my cage & now this, this is the best thing you could've done! I really need some familiarity right now!" Blu said.

Linda of course couldn't understand Blu's squawks & chirps, but his actions spoke volumes about his happiness. "It's nothing Blu." Linda said returning the hug warmly. "I'm glad you like it."

Jewel & Rob were watching the scene, Rob curiously & Jewel with a tolerant expression that was nonetheless lightened by a slight smile.

"Did I miss something?" Rob asked Jewel. "I see this is like a library but why is he so excited?"

"He's usually like that." Jewel answered, the slight smile falling from her face & a look a mild displeasure replacing it as she cast her gaze around at the room again. This wasn't her favorite kind of environment, she much preferred the Jungle. But Blu had grown up in it & he was comfortable in this kind of place. Jewel had hoped that with living in the Jungle with her that might change, but it didn't look to be happening anytime soon.

After that tender hug, Blu then flew from Linda's arms & gripped onto the edge of a bookcase. Holding himself there, he quickly searched for a book on the bookshelf, when he found the one he was looking for he grabbed it with his claws & took it over to the desk.

Watching this with a smile, Linda thought: _It doesn't matter how wild he gets, he'll always be my Blu._ She then walked over to the eager Macaw. "Blu?" She asked gently & he looked up at her. "Before you get into that, there's a little something we have to take care of first."

Blu looked a little puzzled & Linda moved across to a drawer on the desk. She opened it & took a small kit. She then came back to Blu & showed it to him. It was his old medical treatment kit. She then pointed to his forehead. "You didn't think I'd miss that did you?"

Blu sighed internally_. She noticed it._ He thought. He should have known she would. She knew him perfectly due to all those years they lived together, & she easily would be able to detect even a single missing feather on him. He held still as Linda expertly treated & bandaged the small bump on his head.

"There we go." She said as she neatly stowed the kit away again. "Now, you 3 make yourself at home. I'll bring you all something to eat." She said as she moved to the door & with a wave (which Blu returned) she exited the room.

"Jewel, Rob!" Blu called down excitedly from the desk at the 2 Macaws still down on the floor. "Come see this! It's wonderful!" He added as he motioned with his wing for them to join him.

Jewel & Rob exchanged glances & then flew up onto the desk. Jewel landed perfectly, but Rob stumbled a little which Blu noticed.

"Rob, are you OK?" Blu asked, concerned. "Are you still hurting?"

"Yes I'm fine, nothing hurts." Rob answered, flapping his wings to show Blu he didn't have anything to worry about. "Probably all that medicine they gave to me is affecting my balance, that's all." He lied. He was ashamed to admit the fact that he had forgotten many things, including balance, & he had to relearn them with Felipe & Sophie's kind help.

"Don´t worry. That effect should be only temporary, it will fade soon." Blu said reassuringly & Rob nodded. Blu then turned back to the book he had just grabbed, his enthusiasm returning. "Come, take a look at this." He said & opened the book with his beak. He then moved his head in close to the book & drew in a deep breath. "Oh, I love this smell!" He exclaimed with a satisfied sigh.

"You really like books, don't you?" Rob asked.

"Yeah, I do, they have something that makes you feel good every time you read them, & even the smell of them is great." He said sniffing the book again. Blu then looked up at Rob with an enthusiastic expression. "Hey, you want to try it out yourself?" He moved aside from the book & gestured towards it.

"Me?" Rob asked, pointing one of his primary feathers to himself & Blu nodded. Rob glanced at Jewel who just returned his look with a slightly annoyed look & a roll of her eyes towards the book as if to say: _Just go & smell the stupid book._ "Ok, here I go." He said & headed to the book. He leaned his head over the pages & sniffed it.

"Isn't its smell wonderful?" Blu asked with confidence.

_I didn´t smell anything. _Rob thought fearing for a moment that he also had forgotten how to smell, but he then recalled he was able to smell all the fruit he ate last night so that wasn´t the problem. He felt like he had to say something though & Blu looked so eager, so he decided he didn't want to let him down: "Sure…it smells like something is waiting for us in there." Rob lied, & waited to see Blu´s reaction.

"You see, you do see. That´s what I was talking about, I thought no one could understand what a good book means." Blu said with satisfaction. He then gave Rob an excited hug as he felt he had found a new reading partner. "Come on Rob! Let´s read." He said as he gestured towards the book again.

Rob glanced over at Jewel again & caught her giving him a mean look. She was quite clearly sending the message that thanks to him they'd now spend all day there reading, something Jewel really didn´t enjoy as she wasn´t able to read. Rob gave her an apologetic smile & then turned his attention to the book that was in front of him & Blu.

"You´ll see, this book is about…" Blu was well away, giving Rob an overview of the book in front of them. "…but you'll first think it's talking about something different, so you must be careful to find where the plot is going, I know you´ll easily find out where it's all going in time, but it still holds some mystery…" Blu continued in this vein for a few minutes, Rob listening to him carefully. He may not have been able to "smell' whatever mysteries the book held, but he was still interested.

Left rather out of the loop, Jewel sighed to herself. _Here we go again. _She thought with a touch of annoyance & settled herself on the desk getting ready for her afternoon of boredom. Blu had already made some attempts to teach her how to read, but despite Blu's insistences that it was a vital skill to have, she had always found some excuse to wriggle out of it.

After a few minutes Linda reentered the room holding a plate with some fruit on it. She paused & smiled as she took in the scene of Rob & Blu engrossed in reading the book, but her smile fell slightly as she glanced over at Jewel who was looking bored._ Its nice Blu found a friend to share his hobbies._ Linda thought. _Jewel is a good partner, but Blu always needs someone else who shares in his interests. _She glanced again at Jewel's slightly sour expression & sighed internally. _If only Jewel would...oh well._

Linda approached the desk & spoke up. "I´m back & I brought you some fruit." She said & placed the plate on the desk. Looking up from their reading both Macaws gazes fell on the plate. Blu was still hungry & ran over to it, grabbing & sinking his beak into a mango which he devoured in seconds. Rob was more restrained however. He looked at the plate & after thinking about it a little, he grabbed an apple but unlike Blu he ate it slowly. He had learned his lesson from his ´soirée´ the previous night at the storage room. After sating his immediate hunger, Blu offered Jewel some fruit but she politely declined, gently explaining that she had already eaten & also she wasn't in the mood for food.

Linda was enjoying the scene when her phone rang. She answered, & after a little chat, with her side almost entirely consisting of comments like "Yes." "No." "Really?" "Uh-huh." "Right." "Sure." & "OK." She hung up & turned to the Macaws. "I´m so sorry." She apologized. "I have to go & solve some further issues that have arisen over Fernando´s adoption." She explained & looked a little disappointed. She wanted to spend all day with them but she knew Fernando was still waiting for her to complete all the paperwork as soon as possible. "I have to leave & I probably won't be back until tomorrow." Blu gave her a nod to show he understood & Linda then moved her hand towards him & stroked his head with her fingers to say goodbye, a habit she had always had & did it even though Jewel disapproved.

Rob looked at them curiously. "What is she doing?" He asked.

"It´s a stroke." Blu explained even as Linda continued stroking his head. "Humans usually do it as a sign of appreciation." Blu added.

Linda finished stroking Blu & glanced towards Rob. She half-raised her hand towards him & said. "May I?" Rob looked at her confused for a few seconds until he understood she wanted to do the same she just did with Blu, then he smiled & lowered his head as a sign that he was allowing her to stroke his head, which she then did. "You're very friendly." Linda said approvingly & Rob squawked happily in return.

"You see, it feels good, doesn't it?" Blu asked & Rob nodded.

"Ok. You guys take care now." Linda said as she finished stroking Rob. She looked at Jewel still lying on the desk staring at her but made no move to stroke her. She knew that Jewel didn't like it. "See you later." Linda said waving her hand.

Jewel squawked but didn't pay much attention to Linda. She was too annoyed to be nice with her.

Blu & Rob squawked happily saying goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow, & don´t worry, you can stay here as long as you want." Linda said. "Also, please remember that Rob still needs to rest, so don't make him to do anything to strenuous. Be gentle with him, he is still under our care." She reminded them & Blu nodded. Then, waving her hand, Linda left the room.

Then Blu & Rob resumed their reading despite Jewel's disapproving look. As the quiet descended once again, Jewel went deep into thought, a slight frown on her brow.

Rob was reading & enjoying doing so, but stopped as a thought occurred to him. He should ask Blu if he had some piece of information that could help him to find out what happened to him, but something inside him was stopping him. After struggling with himself & thinking about it, Rob decided to ask him. He opened his beak & started to say "Bl…"

"Blu!" Jewel said loudly & firmly at the exact time as Rob started to speak, drowning him out & causing both Rob & Blu to turn their heads towards her, surprised. She stood up & walked towards them, her face & movements showing determination.

Jewel had spent the time since Linda left thinking things over & had now decided to tell Blu why the Marmosets attacked him, because all the excitement he had due to the books he completely forgot everything related to that, but she needed to confess to him that it was her fault.

"Is something wrong?" Blu asked, looking at her in a mix of surprise & curiosity.

"I…I just need to tell you something." Jewel said, it was difficult for her to admit she did something wrong.

Then Blu started to shiver. _No! Why now, I was enjoying myself, why couldn't this wait? _He thought. "Yes, what is it about?" Blu asked with fear.

Rob looked between Blu & Jewel a little confused, he didn't have a clue why they were so distressed.

Behind them, the window high up on the wall that Jewel had been facing until she turned around (that Linda had left slightly open to air the room), was pulled opened quietly. None of the 3 Birds noticed.

"Blu…I have to confess something." Jewel said, looking into his eyes.

After Jewel´s comment, Blu's eyes revealed an uncontrollable panic as tried to say something.

Noting this Jewel said: "Blu, please don't be scared, this is not about what you're thinking." She hesitated & then said: "Well, it is related to it but it nothing that can worry you." Jewel reassured him but Blu's eyes opened wide & started to babble something.

Jewel took a deep breath & steeled herself. "Blu, I…" She began but was suddenly interrupted. Blu eyes had been darting around frantically trying to find some way out of the situation, but he had suddenly seen a brown & white blur heading straight for them.

"Look…look out!" Blu shouted, but he was too late. The blur reached & swiftly tackled Blu, knocking him over & into Rob & sending both Macaws sprawling on the table. Rob squawked in pain.

The Bird landed on the desk & looked at the sprawled macaws with a malevolent smile.

Recovering from the sudden shock of the intrusion, Jewel then found her voice. "How dare you!?" She shouted & launched herself at the assailant. But he saw her coming & skillfully dodged her attack, grabbing one of her legs at the same time & tripping her up onto the desk. Before she could recover he then quickly grabbed her with his claw & pressed a certain spot on Jewel's neck. She crumpled up like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut, & he dropped her back onto the desk.

Blu, who had managed to get back up onto his claws then shouted angrily: "What do you think you're doing?" And lunged at the Bird. Once again however, the Bird skillfully dodged the attack & hit Blu in the back, making him collide with the desk & slide off the edge onto the floor with a pained squawk.

The mysterious assailant then spoke. "You call that fighting?" He said in a condescending tone. "If that's the best you can do this will be far too easy & boring…" He gave a mock sigh. "Oh well. A plan is a plan & I have to stick to it. Just eliminating you so easily won't be any fun." He said disappointed, as he walked towards Jewel.

In spite of painful impact Rob had managed to get back up onto his claws. "Hey, you leave her alone!" He shouted & used his beak to grab the closest object he could find, which was the book he & Blu had been reading before. He threw it with all his strength, hoping that it would hit their attacker & knock him out, but unfortunately the Bird once again saw the attack coming & dodged it.

As the Bird straightened up again he looked irritated. In an incredibly swift movement he flew across the desk & tackled Rob back down with one of his sharp talons gripped around his throat. Rob struggled against the Bird's hold, but it was futile. He was too strong or Rob was too weak. Perhaps both. The Bird then gave Rob an unpleasant smile. "So, you want to play too?" He asked.

Rob looked at him, he could see that he wasn't a Macaw but another type of Bird, white feathers on his head & brown ones on his body along with a sharp beak & claws. _Perhaps Hawk._ Rob thought.

The Hawk looked Rob over carefully. "Ah-Ha, you´re not from here." He stated. "I would recognize your species anywhere, even if I can´t see your feathers. You seem to be far away from your natural habitat, I´d bet that you´re here because those humans, aren´t you?" Rob couldn't have answered even if had wanted to with the Hawk's talons gripped around his throat. He could only just draw enough breath to breathe, but the Hawk didn't seem to want an answer anyway. He sighed & went on: "You know…I understand you." He said with a sympathetic tone in his voice. "One day you´re flying free in the Jungle & then someone that calls himself an Ecologist just up & captures you & takes you miles away from your home to another hemisphere. Alone, just for the purpose of being displayed in a Zoo…" The Hawk's voice was dripping with barely contained anger as he said this last. "…And then you spend all days & nights trying to find a way to escape…in the meantime, learning how to communicate with other Birds who only spoke English or Portuguese…" he said, a frustrated note mixing with the anger in his voice.

Rob tried to take advantage of the Hawk´s diversion by slowly moving one of his claws towards a pile of books, hoping that he might be able to make them fall over & hit his assailant, but the Hawk then spoke to him again: "You want to help your friends, don't you?" He asked & once again went on without waiting for an answer. "You know…you don't really want to do that." He stated. "You may regret it." He then tightened his grip on Rob's throat, starting to choke him & making Rob retract his claw from the books & paw futilely at the Talon wrapped around his throat. "Just for your information…" the Hawk said sounding almost chatty & showing absolutely no strain as he squeezed Rob's throat. "I should tell you that my species is known to have Birds like you just as a snack." The Hawk explained. "You seem to be a very delicious prey, worthy of a feast." He said with a threatening tone as he brought Rob's face up closer to his own & stared into his eyes. Rob, shivering, almost out of breath & unable to do anything to oppose him, realized that this was his end. He just closed his eyes & waited, resigned to his fate. "But…" The Hawk said after thinking for some seconds. "Luckily for you, I´ve already eaten." He said & released his grip. Rob collapsed back onto the desk & lay there gasping, the Hawk watching him with an evil satisfaction. "Take this advice, it will save your life." He said seriously. "If we meet again don't ever try to interfere with my plans." He said, grabbing Rob again & shoving his face right up against Rob's & staring into his eyes. "You'll only get undesirable results Capisci?" He added & once again let him fall.

After that, the Hawk turned & walked towards the unconscious Jewel, leaving Rob gasping & helpless on the desk. He grabbed her in his talons & turned to look over the edge of the desk at Blu still lying on the floor, barely managing to stay awake. "I'll give you an opportunity to prove you are as smart as I've been told." The Bird said to him. "You have one day to find me & rescue your girlfriend or you'll never see her again." He spread his wings but then gave one last parting shot. "Understand this blue boy, you´ll regret all you´ve done." He said expressionlessly & then flew through the window carrying Jewel with him & leaving behind 2 almost unconscious Macaws.

* * *

That's all for this chapter, I hope you've enjoyed it. New events are coming due to this mysterious bird. Stay tuned for the next chapter, the countdown starts now.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi, Rob the Ara Macao here, thanks again for your comments they are always welcome. No one expected an assault from behind by this mysterious bird. How will Blu find Jewel before time runs out? Maybe he needs some help, and some birds you already know will give him a hand...or a wing...well you know what I mean...let´s see what happens next.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Rob was sprawled over the desk, just hovering on the cusp of consciousness. Suddenly he opened his eyes with a jerk as he awoke fully, his mind a blur of disturbing but half-remembered images. He began to get up & shook his head trying to clear it, but the action was almost immediately halted as he felt a wave of pain in his throat. He grimaced & brought his wings up to his throat, trying to massage it to relieve the pain he felt from being near-throttled by what he now remembered was that Bird´s attack.

_I'm alive_. He thought as the pain receded a little & he managed to get up onto his claws. As he stood up he glanced at the clock on the wall & realized that he had been unconscious for a while after passing out from the lack of air. He glanced around the room but there was no sign of anyone else being there. He walked to the corner & looked down. "Blu!" he shouted as he spotted Blu sprawled unconscious on the floor. He quickly fluttered down from the desk & landed next to Blu. "Blu are you all right?" Rob asked as he nudged him gently with his wing. Blu didn't react & Rob gave him a quick check-over. He didn't appear to have any visible injuries other than that bump that Linda had treated earlier. After falling from the table it looked like he had managed to hit his head in the same spot again & that had at first dizzied & then caused him to fall unconscious. "Come on Blu! Wake up! We have serious problems here." Rob said as he shook Blu gently to try & rouse him. Rob feverently hoped that the bump on his head hadn't hurt Blu too badly.

Suddenly Blu, with his eyes still closed, started to thrash around. "Jewel, I´ll save you!" he shouted flapping his wings desperately.

"Wait! Wait, Blu, please calm down!" Rob shouted, trying to reassure him. "You´re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing this!" He said as he embraced him with his wings in an attempt halt his clumsy thrashing about. Unfortunately this had the opposite effect. Once Blu felt he was captured & in his semi-conscious state, he clumsily lashed out with his claw & managed to jab it into Rob´s leg. By pure bad luck Blu managed to hit right on one of Rob's more severe & only partially-healed injuries. The stab of pain that shot through Rob took his breath away as he released Blu & collapsed soundlessly on the floor.

As Rob lay there, his wings clutching his injured leg & his face wracked with pain, Blu finally stopped thrashing as his full senses returned to him. He opened his eyes & looked around a little groggily. "Jewel?" He muttered. "Jewel? Where are you?" He said concerned, as he clumsily got up onto his claws. Looking all about as he stumbled forward, he almost fell over something blocking his path. He looked down & found Rob lying on the floor, his face screwed up in a pained expression, tears in his eyes & breathing quickly. "Rob!" Blu said in concern. "Rob, are you okay?" Blu said as he placed his wing over Rob´s back & tried to comfort him. Rob just shook his head still unable to speak "Are you hurt?" Blu asked & Rob nodded. "Did that bird do that?" Blu questioned again & Rob shook his head again as he tried to ride out the pain. "Where´s Jewel?" Blu asked as Rob opened his beak but no sound came out from it "Who did that to you?" Blu said concerned.

Rob still paralyzed by the pain opened his beak again & tried to say something. "Y…" he started to mutter.

"I´ll teach the one who hurt you a lesson they'll never forget!" Blu said furiously, concluding they were attacked by more than one bird.

"You…" Rob said as took a deep breath trying to overcome the pain.

"Yes, me, I´m going to help you, just tell me who did this to you." Blu said firmly.

"You…You did it." Rob´s words finally came out. "Why did you have to hit me there?" he asked as he finally managed to get back up onto his claws. Blu took a step back from him, looking taken aback, but before he could say anything Rob went on, sounding really upset: "I understand you're worried about Jewel, but that is not the way to solve the problem!" Rob yelled. "I´m only trying to help…you´re so mean to me!" He continued venting all his anger & rubbing a tear from his face. Suddenly though Rob halted & went quiet as he realized that he had strayed off on a tangent. Blu wasn't mean to him, so why had he said that? A memory stirred in Rob's mind of something related to those words he just said. There were no details though, just an impression of familiarity. _Why does this sound familiar to me?_ He thought trying to recover that memory, but it had disappeared as fast as it came, he only had a sensation that could be described as Déja Vu.

Blu was speechless; now that he was thinking clearly he recalled Jewel was kidnapped by that Bird & he understood there was no second bird attacking them. He was the one who had hurt Rob when he had had that panic attack. He was ashamed, but Rob's anger seemed unusually vehement & Blu didn't know what to make of his choice of words. He hadn't ever been _mean_ to Rob, had he? Both times he had hurt him were just unfortunate accidents & Rob understood that…didn't he?

As Blu gave Rob a look of equal parts uncertainty, worry & guilt, Rob came out of his brief bout of abstraction & saw Blu's expression. Rob took a deep breath & shook his head trying to calm down. He realized despite what Blu did to him there was no reason to justify his behavior. "Blu, I´m so sorry." Rob apologized. "I shouldn´t have said those things."

Blu came out of his shock & spoke. "That's…" He stopped, cleared his throat & went on. "That's OK Rob. I'm the one who needs to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was hectic &…"

"Nothing like that." Rob interjected. "You saved my life & just look the way I´m thanking you for it." He said annoyed with himself & hiding his face behind his wing. "And now I´m wasting valuable time to find Jewel." he stated as he uncovered his face. "The least I can do is help you to find & rescue her." He said as he placed his wing over his head & started to think.

"You don´t owe me anything." Blu said. "This is my problem & I have to…" Blu began, but before he could finish his sentence Rob interrupted him.

"Do you know what this bird has against you?" Rob asked.

"No, I don't, it's the first time I've seen him. But as I was telling you…" Blu answered but was interrupted again.

"Then this is very strange." Rob stated. "An unknown bird attacks you for no apparent reason & gives you a deadline, I also noted he said he was following a plan he had to stick to." He said rubbing his head with his wing trying to join the pieces. "Eliminate you…is that his objective? Then why didn't he just do it? Why does he want to be followed?" he continued thinking aloud. Suddenly an idea passed through his mind. _Lure us…_

"You said it." Blu said firmly. "I have to go & find…" he began, but once again Rob interrupted him.

"I got it!" Rob said his face brightening. "Come on!" He stated as he then turned, spread his wings & flapped back up onto the desk. Blu, a little fogged as to what was thinking, nonetheless followed him with a curious expression on his face. "Does this thing have Internet access?" Rob asked as he walked towards the computer placed on the desk.

"Y...yes I think so, but…" Blu answered, still unable to fathom what Rob was up to.

"Excellent." Rob said as he tapped a few keys & the computer turned on.

"How can a computer help us find Jewel?" Blu asked, confused.

"Let me ask you a question." Rob said in response as he gripped the computer's mouse with his claw & began to manipulate it. "Do you have a plan to find her & that bird?"

"Well…" Blu said & he had to think for a moment. "The first thing on the list is to ask everyone out there if they've seen him."

"Information will always be a powerful weapon." Rob stated. "Do you know what this bird looks like?" Rob asked again as he moved the mouse cursor on the monitor to point at 'Internet' & clicked it.

Blu tried to remember the bird's appearance, trying to clarify that blurry image of white & brown feathers tackling him. "Now that you mention it, I know he´s a Hawk." He said. "Everyone knows Hawks & they can tell us if have seen one." Blu inferred.

"Yes you're right." Rob said as he typed on the keyboard. "A Hawk…just like these ones." Rob finished typing the word _'Hawk' _& pressed the Enter key. A long…_long_ list of Hawk species appeared & Blu's heart sank a little as he looked at it. Seeing that he had made his point however, Rob went on: "There are too many types of Hawk out there. Even if we reduce it to see only the species from this area…" He suited the action to the words by rapidly typing in _'Hawks of Brazil'_ & pressed Enter. "…We´ll get this." he said as another list appeared, shorter than the previous one but still too long to search one by one. "Brazil has one of the richest bird diversities in the world. The avifauna of Brazil includes a total of 1837 species, of which 234 are endemic. About 60% of the Bird species recorded for all of South America." Rob stated to Blu, showing his point of how hard would be to find Jewel´s kidnapper. "But I´m pretty sure he isn´t one of the species listed here." He assured him.

"Why are you sure about that?" Blu asked.

"Because he isn´t from Rio or even from Brazil." Rob answered.

"How do you know?" Blu inquired.

"Easy. He told me…while he was busy throttling the life out of me." Rob answered a little wryly as he once again gently rubbed his neck with the edge of his wing. "But nonetheless, he told me & that's valuable information to help track him down."

"How?" Blu asked, curious about Rob's plan. "What can we do?"

"I´m on it." Rob answered as once again returned to the keyboard & used his claw to type. As worried as he was about Jewel, Blu couldn't help but marvel at the ease & speed of which Rob was working with the device. "You´ll see." Rob went on. "He mentioned many interesting things."

"Things? What kind of things?" Blu asked curiously, when the Hawk spoke he wasn't awake enough to listen to what he had been saying & only recalled him giving Blu 24 hours to rescue Jewel & at least one had already passed.

"He mentioned he was captured long way from here; that before he came here he wasn´t able to speak English or Portuguese, & the most frightening but interesting data he gave…" Rob said gulping. "He said his species feeds on Macaws." He said with a shudder. "Then if we add this information to the search." Rob explained as he typed _hawk white head brown body macaws _in the search box & pressed Enter. Then some pages about parrots appeared but there was one that caught Rob´s attention. "Interesting, Ornate Hawk-Eagle." Rob said & placing his claw over the mouse, double clicked on that link.

When the page loaded both Macaws jerked back.

"That's him!" Both of them shouted as they looked at the page describing the Bird, along with a picture they immediately recognized as their attacker.

Rob scanned the page. "According to this, his feathers tell us he is a young one." he said as continued reading. "I was right, he´s not a Brazilian bird." He confirmed. "And his prey is Herons, Toucans, Pigeons…Macaws!" He read in disbelief. "He wasn´t lying." Rob said as a cold shiver ran through him at the thought that despite the Hawk not taking him as his meal, confronting him again meant he was in real danger of being eaten. Rob just shook his head trying to clear it of that awful thought.

"So." Blu said grimly, his tone indicating he knew the stakes too, but wasn't going to let them deter him. "We know exactly what species he is, but how can we ask everyone? We can´t just go around saying: 'Hey, have you seen an'…" he paused as he peered at the name at the screen "…An Ornate-Hawk Eagle flying around?"

Rob moved towards the mouse "I´ve already thought of that." He said. "You see?" He asked as he pointed his primary feather at the printer next to them.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Blu asked.

Rob nodded & moving the mouse with his claw placed the pointer over the picture, clicked the right button & then selected print from the options that appeared. "I hope Linda doesn´t mind if we expend some ink doing this." he said, clicking other options in order to get the picture printed.

Blu shook his head & spoke with authority. "Don´t worry about it. If this is necessary to find Jewel, then we could use the whole cartridge & she'll understand once I explain how important it is."

Finally Rob pressed Enter & a sound came from the printer as a paper sheet started to come out.

While they waited, Blu realized something he wanted to ask. "Um…Rob, can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Rob said.

"Where did you learn how to use a computer so well?" Blu asked. "It took me many years to learn & I had Linda's help." He added.

Rob frowned. "To be honest…I don't know. That´s a question I ask myself too." Rob admitted. Just like the night he had snuck into the Lab, Rob had no idea how the knowledge of how to operate a computer had come to him. It just came naturally without him hardly thinking about it. It was like he had used one many times before but he didn´t have a clue when or where that was. "I´m sorry I can´t answer your question Blu." He said apologetically. "It just…comes naturally to me & I don't know why."

Blu nodded in understanding, but couldn't help wondering in the back of his mind what this meant about Rob's origins. Hopefully Rob's memory would return eventually or something else would turn up to explain the mystery.

At this point the printer had finished its work. Both macaws walked towards it to see the scary image of the Hawk on the paper in the output tray. "Good. Now we have a way to find him, let´s go." Rob said as he quickly picked up the sheet, rolled it into a tube & gripped it in his beak. He then turned & started walking towards the window.

"Hey wait, wait!" Blu said spreading his wing in front of Rob like a Stop barrier. "Where do you think you´re going?" He asked him.

"Turgh loof furr…" Rob paused as he took the rolled up paper out of his beak & started again: "To look for Jewel, of course." He said.

Blu shook his head. "No, you can´t." He said seriously. "Just look at yourself." He said pointing his primary feather at the bandages still on Rob's wings. "Not to mention now I know you still have a serious injury there." He added, this time pointing to Rob´s bandaged right leg, the one he had inadvertently jabbed & Rob had collapsed with pain. "You can´t go out in that condition, besides I promised Linda I would look out for you."

"You don´t have to worry about that." Rob said & then made a little jump on the desk. "You see? I´m fine. As long as I don't put too much stress on the leg I'm fine." he said.

Blu was hardly convinced. "Well Ok, I'll give you that, but how about your wings? They're still bandaged. That probably means you won´t be able to fly properly." He stated.

At this comment, Rob merely smiled, spread his wings & threw himself the edge of the desk.

"Wait! You're going to get hurt!" Blu shouted but it was too late.

As he fell however, Rob stretched out his wings, the bandages around the middle parts of them had been applied in such a way as to allow not impeding him in the slightest. He then glided close to the floor & with a few flaps he then ascended flying easily around the room as Blu turned to track him, his beak open in shock. "Is this flying properly?" Rob called out as he completed his circuit & landed once more in front of Blu (being careful not to put too much stress on his right leg) "Like I told you, I've been having rehabilitation sessions & they said I´m doing well." He informed Blu proudly.

Blu still didn't look totally convinced, but he sighed & said: "Fine, if you´re up to flying, you can go." He conceded. "However…" He added quickly & holding up a warning wing as Rob looked pleased. "You're to take it easy & if it gets too much for you you´ll have to come back. No Arguments. Is that understood?" He warned & Rob nodded. "Let´s go then." Blu instructed as he spread his wings & flew up & out of the window.

"Hey wait, we need to take this with us." Rob called as he once again picked up the rolled up sheet in his beak & followed after Blu.

.

* * *

.

Both Macaws were flying through the jungle, Blu was flying fast, pushed by his desire to find Jewel, & Rob was barely able to keep up with him. Rob was breathless as he noticed Blu starting to soar; apparently Rob really wasn´t up for flying after all, but he had already promised Blu he would help him & going back now would mean an important time loss that Rob would not allow to happen. So he, with a resolute expression on his face, flapped his wings as fast as he could to reach Blu's speed while he tried to not look down, for some strange reason Rob wasn't comfortable with the height they were flying, probably caused by his extreme skydiving experience.

After a few minutes of flying, a doubt assaulted Rob. Where were they going? He knew they were looking for someone who had seen Jewel or the Hawk but what was their first stop? _I had to forget something._ Rob thought. There was no opportunity to talk about it however. Blu seemed to know where they were headed & Rob wasn't able to ask Blu their destination as trying to speak would mean dropping the picture he was holding in his beak & holding it in his claw ran too high a risk of dropping it. His only option was to follow Blu & talk with him once they've arrived wherever they were going. Then there was also the matter of the Hawk´s intentions. If Rob was right, Jewels kidnapping was just the first step on his plan to eliminate Blu, whatever his reasons. _Just like those Middle-Age stories:_ _A villain taking away the Princess & waiting to ambush the Prince when he comes to the rescue…the old cliché, isn't it?_ Rob thought raising an eye ridge. At least Rob knew this bird wasn't a creative one, but despite of his lack of originality they should still be very careful with him, no matter if he was smart or not, a Bird strong enough to beat Blu & Rob (despite his condition he still endured the attack & defended Jewel…well, at least that's what he wanted to think) with hardly any effort was something to worry about.

When Rob was in the middle of his thoughts, Blu, without warning, started to descend; Rob was caught off guard & flew on for a bit, turning his head back to see Blu landing on a tree. _So we finally arrived. _Rob thought as he did a rather awkward aerial U-turn & flew towards the same tree. He was relieved that their long flight had ended & landed next to Blu embracing his wings around branch they were on.

"Is everything OK?" Blu asked as Rob came in.

"Yurrr…" Rob began but then stopped as he transferred the paper from his beak to his claw. "Yeah sure, I'm just…stretching." Rob lied. "It's been a long flight & I just need to relax the muscles a bit." he said standing up again "That's it, now I'm ready." he said smiling.

Blu wasn't a fool. Despite his priority to find Jewel, he had noticed that Rob seemed to be having difficulties flying, both in terms of speed & agility. Blu knew Rob wasn't even near to full recovery & the best thing for him would be to return to the Center, but Rob was committed to helping him, something Blu was very thankful for so he just said: "Good, let's move on then."

The 2 Macaws then walked along the branch towards a nearby hollow. "Rafael, are you there?" Blu called out. A few seconds later a female keel-billed Toucan peered out from the hollow.

"Oh Blu, nice to see you." the Toucan said, & Rob thought it was very strange that a female could have a name like Rafael. "Rafael isn't here; he's at the meeting area. You should go there if you want to talk with him." She explained as she flapped up & out of her hollow, landing on the branch in front of Blu. She then leaned a little sideways as she noticed Rob behind Blu. "It seems you have company." She observed.

"Yes, he's a friend, his name is Rob." Blu said. "We met him a few days ago." He explained as he spread his wing towards Rob.

Eva smiled warmly. "It's very nice to meet you Rob. My name is Eva." She said, introducing herself.

Rob smiled back. "Hello. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Rob said & gave a little bow of his head, even while he inwardly thought how funny it was for him to confuse her with Rafael.

Eva looked pleased. "You see, those are manners, you should learn from him." Eva called back towards her hollow. Rob looked up at it to see that many little Toucans were peering at them from inside. "Come here & say hello." Eva went on.

As soon as Eva said this, the little Toucans got mischievous looks on their faces & flew up out of the hollow & straight towards the two Macaws. Blu, having prior experience with them & knowing their intentions, swiftly dodged them by throwing himself to the side, taking flight & hovering next to the branch. This unfortunately left an unwarned Rob right in their path however. The little Toucans tackled him with joyful cries & he was bowled over on his back onto the branch. The little terrors then started to jump all over him.

"Hey! No please, it hurts!" Rob begged as one toucan pulled on one of his wings. "No! No, not the feathers…Ouch!" he said as a second one started to pluck his feathers. "Stop, Aw!" He shouted while another bit down on his tail.

"Everyone stop!" Eva yelled & the ambush halted as suddenly as it had begun. "Come here now!" She ordered & all the little Toucans immediately lined up in front of her. "I'm very disappointed with all of you." she said glaring at her offspring, who looked down, ashamed. "All of you, inside right now." She ordered, pointing her wing feather back at the Hollow. "We'll be having a long chat about this later." She stated as the little Toucans flew back into the hollow without saying a word.

Blu landed again on the branch & helped Rob up. "Sorry Rob. I should have known this would happen. I should´ve given you a warning before we came." Blu said apologetically. Rob gave him an irritated look.

Eva then spoke up. "I´m so sorry Rob. You can be sure those kids are grounded for doing that." Eva apologized as she made an effort to straighten out Rob's feathers with her wings.

"That's great news." Rob muttered as he rubbed his tail.

Blu then got the conversation back on track. "It was nice to see you Eva, but we really need to speak with Rafael." Blu said as took a deep breath, it was difficult for him to admit he wasn't able to protect Jewel. It was a hard hit to his self-esteem. "Jewel was kidnapped & we need help to find her." He explained heavily.

Eva looked startled. "That's terrible!" She said, the very idea of a kidnapper around was shocking. A firm expression then replaced her shocked one. "Then there's no time to loose! Go to Rafael quickly! If anyone can help, it's him."

"Yes. We think so too." Blu confirmed as he turned & spread his wings. "See you later." he said with quick wave before flying off from the branch.

"Goodbye, nice to meet you." Rob said quickly flew off after Blu, the precious paper gripped in his claw.

Eva waved her wing at their retreating forms until they were out of sight; then she re-entered her hollow. She was concerned about what Blu told her, a kidnapper was something serious. Once inside she looked at her kids, one of them had something in his beak. Eva fixed the young Toucan with a stern eye, one they dared not disobey, & put her wing out in front of him "Spit it out." She ordered & the little Toucan opened his beak & let two little feathers fall into Eva's wing. Eva sighed. "I don't know who taught you to do that..." she began her lecture, but then paused & raised an eye ridge as she noticed something strange about the feathers. She then turned & peered from her hollow & looked at the direction the Macaws had disappeared in. "Those bandages almost tricked me." She mused. "He isn't a green-winged. It's been long time since I met one of them." she muttered, looking down at the feathers again & confirming one was red & the other was yellow. "His presence here will be quite interesting." She smiled.

.

* * *

.

"Is that meeting area place far?" Rob asked, able to do so this time because of holding the paper not with his beak but his claw, something that allowed him to speak.

"No, it's right there." Blu said pointing his claw to a clearing surrounded by some trees where they spotted some birds chatting. They were listening carefully to a primarily blue-colored Bird that was speaking. Blu & Rob flew down & landed next to the birds.

"Rob?" The bird that was talking said with a surprised tone, & Rob then remembered who he was. It was Felipe, the Hyacinth Macaw who had helped him out when he first arrived in the Center. The other Birds looked at Felipe & then at Rob curiously.

"Is that him?" A male Toco Toucan muttered to Felipe, apparently Rob's presence was a very interesting event. Felipe nodded & then walked towards Rob.

"What are you doing here kid?" Felipe demanded. "You aren't in any condition to be flying around & what if the researchers find you're out?"

Rob was speechless; he didn't know how to start to explain, but fortunately Blu came to his rescue. "Don't worry Felipe." He reassured him. "He is under my care, we got permission."

"Permission?" Felipe said, surprised. "I've never heard about a Human giving permission to a Bird to take care of another."

"It's true, Blu's friend, Linda, asked for permission, so I'm allowed to stay with them." Rob added.

"But they never talked about going out." Blu muttered to Felipe.

"Whatever kid." Felipe said sighing. "Just be careful & remember what I've already told you. If you feel fine it doesn't mean you're recovered, it's all because of the medicine they gave you. You're still injured." He reminded Rob, annoyed by his recklessness.

Rob frowned, unable to come up with a good response to that, but then a female Hyacinth macaw with her chicks along with the male Toucan approached them.

"Hey dear." the female Hyacinth Macaw said, standing next to Felipe & addressing him. "Is this the poor young Macaw you were talking about?" She said, looking at Rob & Felipe nodded. She then gave Rob a warm smile. "I'm Carol. Nice to meet you." she said to him.

"Likewise." Rob answered, smiling & bowing his head.

"Hey Amigo, how are you?" The Toucan Rob supposed was Rafael asked. "Surviving to a fall from that height is pretty incredible." He said excitedly as he looked at Rob. Rob looked back at him & gave a curious tilt of his head, & the Toucan then realized he hadn't introduced himself. "Oh sorry, my name is Rafael." he added.

"Nice to meet you Rafael." Rob said. "I'm fine, just recovering from some little wounds." He answered.

"Little? Are you sure?" Blu interjected, pointing his claw at Rob's right leg, the bandaged one he had accidentally jabbed early & incapacitated Rob with pain.

"Well…not so little." Rob corrected hastily, fearing Blu could jab his leg again just to prove his point.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you." Rafael said. "Now you're here…can you tell us what that was?" He asked curiously.

Rob fixed Rafael with a confused look & then switched it to Felipe.

"I was just in the middle of that when you appeared." Felipe informed him & then turned to the group. "He can't answer that question because due to the incident he lost his memory." He explained & all turned to see Rob giving him an uncertain look.

"That must be hard Amigo". Rafael said, concerned.

"Yes it is, but thanks to Blu & Felipe I'm doing well." Rob said & turned to Felipe. "I want to thank you for all your help." Rob said to him. "Your lessons were extremely helpful."

"Like I told you before, it was nothing." Felipe answered.

Carol smiled at Felipe. "That's my Felipe." She said affectionately. "Both he & I have always had a soft spot for young ones in a jam. Isn't that right dear?"

Felipe smiled back at her. "You said it dear." He then looked up & glanced around. "Speaking of which…do you happen to know where she is? We should introduce her to the new arrival too…"

Carol shook her head. "Sorry Dear. You know her. She's most likely off doing her own thing."

Felipe nodded at that, Rob was about to ask who they were talking about when a voice suddenly piped up from near his legs.

"Sir, is it true you came from another planet?" The voice asked.

Rob looked down & saw the 2 little Hyacinth Macaws were standing in front of him & looking him over curiously, like searching for another pair of wings or something similar.

"What?" Rob asked, confused.

"Is it true you are a Super Bird?" The other one asked.

"Super…Bird?" Rob asked, not understanding what they were talking about.

"Nothing like that guys." Felipe said laughing as he walked up next to the little Macaws. "Sorry Rob, I digressed with some 'minor' details about your incident so they're a little confused." He apologized. "These are my kids, Kelly & Wesley." He introduced them, pointing a wing feather at each as he named them. He then gave his kids a stern look. "Where are your manners you two? Say hello to Rob." He asked.

"Hello." Both the little Macaws chorused.

"Hello, nice to meet you." Rob said, thankful that they hadn't tackled him like Eva's kids.

"So, he isn't a Superhero." Wesley said, disappointed.

"Of course not dear." Carol explained to him patiently. "He's an ordinary bird like all of us."

"He doesn't look like us." Kelly said watching Rob carefully. "Although…he kinda looks like our big sister, doesn't he?"

"Close, but no." Felipe stated. "Remember your lessons. They are similar species, but not the same." Felipe had spent a lot of time teaching his offspring about these topics. "The first of you that tell me the difference between them will decide what fruit we'll have for dinner." He proposed.

"Yes!" Both kids chorused, excited by his father's little contest. The 2 of them then started to dash around Rob observing him from all angles as they looked for the answer. Rob felt uneasy at being observed in that way, also he didn't understand who he was being compared with.

Wesley, with his eyes fixed on Rob then spoke: "I got it!" He exclaimed. "He's a male!" He said, proud of his discovery.

"Don't be silly." His sister said scornfully. "Dad asked us for his species." She stated as she inspected Rob's tail feathers.

"Eh, guys can you stop now? I'm starting to feel a little awkward." Rob said, embracing his tail feathers with his wings & moving them away from Kelly's sight.

Kelly then saw something & shouted: "That's it, his wing feathers are green!" She said, looking at Rob's wings at the feathers that were visible below the bandages.

Felipe looked pleased. "Excellent! You did it, we have a winner." Kelly then gave Wesley a smug look.

Rob was about to explain to them he didn't only have green feathers but also yellow, & also ask who was that other Macaw with whom they were comparing him when Blu suddenly spoke. "Sorry to interrupt you." He interjected. "But we are here because we need your help." He said seriously.

"Of course we'll help you Amigo. What do you need?" Rafael offered.

"Jewel was kidnapped!" Blu said.

Rafael, Carol & Felipe looked shocked. "What? Kidnapped?" They all said together. They never expected Blu would say that.

"Rob, please." Blu asked, nudging Rob with his wing & Rob nodded. He grabbed with his beak the rolled up sheet he was holding in his claw & unrolled it, showing to everyone the Hawk they were looking for.

"He did it." Blu stated, pointing with his wing feather at the picture.

"That's terrible!" Carol said, embracing her kids with her wings as if she feared someone could swoop out of the sky at any moment.

"He only gave me one day to find her." Blu informed them. "That's why I need your help."

"Then we don't have any time to lose." Felipe said as his face showed a concerned look.

Rafael gave a firm nod. He had slipped right into 'Leader' mode. "Right, I'll call everybody so they can help us to find this bird." He said. "Can I borrow this?" He asked, pointing at the picture. Rob nodded, rolling up the sheet again & giving it over to Rafael. "Thanks. While you search, I'll start asking about this guy so we can find Jewel as fast as possible." Rafael said, & then noted Blu's distressed expression "Don't worry we´ll find her." He promised Blu as he placed his wing comfortingly over his back. "We'll use this place as a meeting point, any information found will be shared here." He instructed & everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll be back as soon I take my family back to our nest & make sure they're safe." Felipe said to Rafael, Rafael nodded in acknowledgment, spread his wings & took off holding the rolled picture in his claw. Then Felipe addressed Blu & Rob. "As Rafael said, we'll solve this together. Please be careful & don't try anything risky." He warned. Carol then placed their still flightless kids on Felipe's back & with them holding on firmly, Felipe then took off.

"Please take care dears." Carol said still scared & then she took off too, following after Felipe.

"Now what do we do?" Blu said.

"Rafael went in that direction." Rob said pointing his primary feather in the direction Rafael had disappeared in. "We should go in that other direction so we can cover a bigger area." He suggested exchanging glances with Blu, who nodded.

"Fine, we don't have any time to lose, let's go." Blu said & both Macaws spread their wings & flew in the opposite direction that the other Birds had taken, starting their search for Jewel.

.

* * *

.

As Jewel drifted back to consciousness, she became aware of a very loud sound, probably water; water falling; _A waterfall_! Jewel realized as she opened her eyes & started to look around. She was alone, she was on a clearing, next to a river followed by a waterfall. Then she tried to move but noticed she was completely immobilized, she was barely able to move her head "Where am I?" Jewel said confused, & feeling a pain on her neck. She then started as her recent memory reasserted itself. "Blu! Where are you! Are you all right?" Jewel called out but there was no answer. Then she recalled what happened before she passed out. "Once I find that Bird…" Jewel said angrily as she tried futilely to release herself. "I'm going to kill him!" She shouted.

"My, my, such strong words." A voice called from nearby. Jewel stopped struggling & looked around as much as she was able, but couldn't see anyone. "Such dire threats shouldn't be coming out from that beautiful beak." The voice continued.

In a sudden flurry of motion a Bird then landed just in front of Jewel. "Here I am." He said as Jewel jerked back & tried to get away, but it was useless. The Bird noted her efforts & went on: "I should tell you that you won´t be able to break free, I made sure you can´t, those ropes are made of a synthetic material used by humans, they use it on parachutes & things like that, it wasn't easy to get either you know, I think they call it Nylon." He started to ramble onto other topics ignoring Jewel's irked expression.

"You!" Jewel exclaimed. "What did you do to Blu?" she demanded.

The Bird looked confused. "Blu? Who's Blu?" His expression then lightened however. "Oh, you mean that blue boy from before." He said sarcastically. "Don't worry, nothing that could kill him." He answered. "You know, just some little punches here & there." He explained, moving his wing up & down. "Although…" he continued. "I wouldn´t say the same for that other Bird that was with you, that Scarlet Macaw. I had to get a bit rougher with him." He said, showing an evil smirk.

Jewel´s eyes widened as he said that. "Did you dare to hurt a defenseless bird?" she shouted.

The Bird threw back his head & laughed. Then he said: "I wouldn't say he was defenseless since he tried to attack me, he could have been your hero if he had succeeded, but he didn't make it & I just acted in self-defense." He said. "We couldn't have a long chat to know exactly what his intentions were because he suddenly got speechless, you know, like he wasn't able to breathe, so I just left him to rest." he explained, giving Jewel an evil smirk again.

"You miserable…" Jewel threatened him.

"Shh. I've already told you such language shouldn't pass that pretty beak." He said holding a wing feather up against Jewel's beak. She made an attempt to bite him, but he was too fast, whipping his wing feather away. "Wow, be careful, you could hurt someone by doing that." The bird warned her in a patronizing tone like an adult talking to an unruly chick, something that irritated her much more.

"Now." The Bird said, returning to his serious mood. "Returning to that blue guy I think we should give him a bit of help to find you." He commented with a smile that Jewel didn't like the look of at all. "What do you think? Do you want to help him?" He asked as he moved his claw towards Jewel. Jewel winced in pain as he quickly plucked two of her feathers. "There now, that wasn't so hard now was it? Isn't that a low price to pay in order to help your loved one?" He asked sarcastically.

"If you dare to do something to him I'll…" Jewel began angrily but he interrupted her.

"Don't worry about that." He said. "I won't do anything to him, at least not for now, I won't even do anything to you, you're the bait & I need you alive." He explained. "Now, I have to leave this in a visible place so he can find it." He said holding Jewel´s feathers in his claw. "The fun will start as soon as he arrives." He said as he leaned close in front of Jewel (but still out of biting range) with another of those unsettling smiles on his face. "So, while we wait for that, you should rest a little." He suggested. "See you later Bella Ave." He said spreading his wings & taking off.

"I'm going to shred him." Jewel huffed but then his last words sounded in her mind. "What does he mean with Bella Ave?" She asked herself thinking for some seconds. Suddenly it clicked in her head. "Bela Ave!" She shouted in Portuguese, unable to believe her discovery. "What does he have to do with him?" She asked aloud.

Lacking answers & unable to move, Jewel stayed quiet & listened to the waterfall´s noise.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi again! The search for Jewel has begun but won´t be easy, there´s much to do and time is running out. More help is required (too much) and Blu must show his courage in order to have a chance of saving his mate, let´s see what happens next.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Rafael made a quick stop at his tree before starting on his mission to gather data about Jewel´s Kidnapper. He was looking for Eva, but before he could say a word Eva flew out of their Hollow & landed next to him. It appeared she had been waiting for him.

"You're going to help them?" Eva asked abruptly.

Rafael raised his eye ridges at the question. "So…you already know what's going on?" He said & she nodded. "They stopped here first then?" He asked.

"Yes, they did." Eva answered. "They told me all about that Kidnapper." She said in a concerned tone. She then glanced down at the rolled up sheet Rafael was holding in his claw. "What's that?" She asked curiously. "I saw they had it before."

Rafael responded by placing the sheet over the branch & unrolling it, showing the picture. Eva looked at the Hawk displayed on it & then turned to Rafael again. "That's him?" She asked, pointing her wing feather at the picture. "That's the terrible Bird who snatched Jewel?" She continued & Rafael nodded with a concerned expression.

"They gave me this so I could ask everyone if they had seen him." Rafael explained.

"It's not anyone I've seen before." Eva said. "Was he the one who hurt them?" She asked.

"Blu's new friend suffered an accident, but I don't know if this Hawk was involved." Rafael explained. "But without a doubt Blu's injury was caused by that Bird." He inferred.

Eva nodded slowly. "I noticed that Blu was hurt when I spoke to them, but I didn't want to say anything." She said. "I thought it was probably something to do with Jewel after you told me about their little disagreement. That girl can get a little…rough when her tempers up."

"Indeed." Said Rafael dryly. "Just like you, when I first saw him I thought his injuries were caused by Jewel." Rafael said, recalling how Jewel had ambushed him. "But now I can see that this Bird hurt Blu when he tried to stop him from kidnapping Jewel." He concluded, & then he rolled up the picture again & looked at Eva. "I've got to keep looking my love. While I'm out please stay here, don't go out until I return." He indicated looking towards his Hollow & spotted all his kids peering from inside. "Good, they are already inside." He said thankful that they wouldn't need to look for them one by one.

"That's because they're grounded." Eva explained.

"Again!" Rafael exclaimed. "What did they do this time?" He asked, looking annoyed.

"You met Rob, right?" Eva asked.

"Yes I did, but what does he have to…" Rafael began but then realization dawned on him. "Oh no. They did it again, didn't they?" Rafael said concerned.

"They did it again." Eva confirmed.

"Was it only…." Rafael tried to ask hoping it had been only a minor incident, but Eva shook her head. "Jumping, biting & plucking feathers, right?" He said with a disappointed sigh. "All their usual act?" he asked & Eva nodded. "I'll have to apologize next time I see him." He said with shame. He then looked up at his kids, still peering cautiously at him from the tree Hollow. "And I'll be having a talk with all of you later." He told them sternly.

"I already offered my apologies." Eva said. She made as if to say something else, but paused & after a moment's thought spoke again. "Just focus on finding that Kidnapper." She added.

Rafael nodded & spread his wings, before he left however, he gave Eva a curious look. "Is there something more I should know?" he asked knowing she wanted to tell him something.

Eva shook her head. "Nothing important. Don't worry about it." She answered & Rafael nodded. Eva then moved closer & gave Rafael a quick embrace. "Be careful my love. This Bird is a threat, not only to Blu & Jewel but to all of us." She warned. "We don´t know what he is planning, so you just take care OK? I'll keep everyone safe here, but you be sure to keep yourself safe, even while helping out our friends."

Rafael nodded in response & embraced Eva back. He knew what that was a reference too. When he, Nico & Pedro had escaped after almost being smuggled out of Rio with Blu & Jewel on the plane, he had returned to Eva & she had immediately accused him of taking so long to return because he was off partying. Unable to keep things from the love of his life, he had confessed everything & her attitude had immediately changed. The knowledge that she & the kids had almost lost him to smugglers had caused her to almost break down, & it had taken quite a long period of comforting & reassurance before she would let him out of her sight again. When she had finally calmed down however, he had explained that although he promised to be much more careful in future he couldn't leave his friends in the lurch when they needed him, such as now.

"I promise my love." He said reassuringly. "I'll be careful, & I'll be back before you know it, OK?" He kissed her tenderly & she smiled. They broke the embrace reluctantly & Rafael waved his wing at her & his kids before he took off, the rolled up picture held in his claw.

Eva waved her wing at him as he left & watched until he was lost among the trees. She wanted to tell Rafael about the interesting discovery she had made about the new arrival, but at this moment that wasn´t important. "Maybe another time." She said, walking back to her Hollow.

.

* * *

.

Blu was flying in the opposite direction that Rafael had taken, followed by Rob, who was managing to cope with his discomfort of heights. According to Rob estimations they were going to the West, & he was able to see some mountains in the distance, a completely different environment compared to the jungle next to the sea where Blu, Jewel, Felipe & his family lived. Everything looked normal, but completely calm, unlike the area they were in before, where he could listen to animal noises & other Birds talking.

"It's a little too quiet here, don´t you think?" Rob asked.

"Yes, this is an uninhabited zone." Blu answered. "Most Birds prefer to live near to the coast where fruit trees grow. As you can see, there are no trees here that can provide enough food to keep a big Bird population." He said.

"That explains it." Rob said as he scanned the ground below them & saw that Blu was right. There were no fruit trees.

"When Jewel & I were looking for a tree to settle down in we were already considering somewhere close to Rafael's tree so we could be neighbors, & when he pointed out the food thing to us that sealed the deal." Blu said. "If one day you look for a place to live you should ask him for some advice too." he suggested.

"Yes, he seems to know a lot much about how things work here." Rob asked, noticing Blu´s enthusiasm when he talked about Rafael.

"Yes he does & not only that." Blu said recalling when he met him. "Rafael is always willing to help others. Although he's not really an official leader he's very respected by all the Bird's around here & his advice & guidance carries a lot of weight." A smirk played around Blu's beak. "Which comes in handy when he goes off on his 'rounds' of his neighbors so to speak. He & Eva love each other dearly, but he occasionally needs a little break from her."

"And from those little demons they call kids." Rob added.

"Yeah, just don´t say that out loud." Blu said with a discreet laugh. Both were trying to keep up a conversation to clear their minds from the shocking events that had occurred just a few hours ago, but they were so stressed & some jokes wouldn´t work to divert them from the fact that Jewel was in serious danger.

Their little talk was interrupted when their flight reached a tall wire fence just in front of them. Blu looked at Rob & gestured with his head down to indicate they were going to descend. Rob nodded in acknowledgment. Blu was the first to go down & flapping his wings to reduce his speed, perched over the fence. Then Rob repeated Blu´s maneuver & landed next to him, although his landing was much more unsteady.

"Where are we?" Rob asked once he had recovered his balance.

"These are the Sanctuary limits." Blu answered. "This fence surrounds all the reserve, Tulio & the people from the Center built it for security purposes. Out there is an unprotected area, there are many dangers; predators & smugglers for instance." Blu explained looking at the lush jungle in front of them.

"Do you think he took Jewel there?" Rob asked.

"I don´t know." Blu admitted. "How we can search for her out there if we even can´t cover the area inside the Sanctuary?" He said spreading his wing & pointing it to the Sanctuary behind them.

Rob´s eyes widened as he looked at the enormous & overwhelming jungle that was in front of them. _What should we do?_ He asked himself. _If we keep wandering around without information that gives us clues about where they could be, the remaining time will just run out_. He thought with signs of frustration on his face. In spite of his initial enthusiasm, he now realized he had no idea how to solve this. He started to lose hope, _we are going to fail, we need help… _he thought as he gave a deep sigh. In the midst of his morose thoughts however, he suddenly had a strange feeling. Something that could be described as a weight over his back, nothing physical, just a sensation. He had an idea of what that feeling meant, they were being observed. So Rob slightly turned his head & discreetly glanced out of the corner of his eye. His expression changed to a panicked one when he saw a few dozen monkeys stealthily approaching from the jungle behind them. The monkeys had intent expressions on their faces & their eyes were locked onto the 2 Birds.

"B…Blu?" Rob stammered.

Blu had been scanning the unprotected area, looking worried as similar thoughts to Rob's had been passing through his mind. He glanced at Rob & said: "What's wrong Rob? Why are you speaking so low?" Blu said.

One of the monkeys looked at Rob & realizing that he had spotted them, the monkey made a quick gesture to the others. Rob shouted "Get down!" & using his wing threw Blu off of the fence before jumping off himself. Both fell from the fence at the same time as a rain of objects started to fall. Rob & Blu quickly turned their fall into flight & made for a nearby tall & thickly leaved tree as fast as they could.

Blu landed on the branch. The leaves of the tree were thick enough to hide them from sight, but Blu knew that was only a temporary measure. "Those monkeys again!" He exclaimed. "I completely forgot about them!" He said. "We must be careful & avoid…" He said, turning to Rob…who wasn't there. "…Rob? Rob, where are you?" He called out, scared, he was sure Rob had been right behind him_. First they attack us & now they take Rob? They must be working along with that Hawk!_ Blu concluded, irritated. His worry was replaced with a simmering anger & he flared out. He was now determined to end with his monkey problem once & for all. Just then however, he heard a voice coming from down below. The voice sounded familiar, so he reigned in his anger just enough to lean forward & listen.

"You idiots!" The voice shouted. "You missed him, can´t you distinguish colors? This one is red not blue! He's not the one we want!"

Peering between the leaves Blu then saw the speaker & recognized him. It was the monkey that had been leading the attack against him the previous day. He also recalled him as the one who had led the attack on Jewel & himself back at the club. The monkey was yelling angrily at a group of monkeys that were stacked in a pile. Blu recognized some of Rob's plumage visible between gaps at the bottom of the pile.

"Who are you?" Rob´s demanding voice came out from the monkey pile. "Why are you doing this?" He shouted & tried to stand up, but the group of monkeys pinned him against the ground & forced him to remain in that position.

"Hey relax." The Marmoset leader said walking towards Rob & placing one foot over his beak. "We don´t have anything against you." He explained, leaning forward casually & grinning at the helpless Macaw as Rob glared back at him. "We're looking for your friend; he has some issues to resolve with a certain someone. Just think of us as the messengers hired for doing the dirty work." He added, still grinning.

At these comments, Blu couldn´t stand it anymore. The anger he had been holding down flared up again & he did something he thought he would never do. Making a snap decision, he jumped from the branch, wings folded & dive bombing the Marmoset from directly above like some kind of avenging angel. In a blur of motion, he snapped open his wings at the same time as he grabbed the monkey by the throat, converting his dive into horizontal flight & bowling the monkey off of Rob & slamming him up against the trunk of a tree a few feet away. The suddenness of this maneuver caught all the Marmosets by surprise, especially Blu's captive. The Grin had been wiped off of his face & replaced by a look of shock, which didn't go away as Blu shoved his beak up against his face while still holding him firmly by the throat.

"You were looking for me?" Blu growled menacingly at him. "Well, you've found me!" He shouted, fixing the monkey with his glare.

"Uh…Hi…how…how have you been?" The Marmoset finally managed to say nervously. "Do you remember me?" He continued, mustering up a desperate looking smile. "It's me, Mauro, your old friend. Long time no see huh? You could´ve sent us a message to say…say hi, or tell us what the…the weather is doing…or…or something..." He said with a rising note of panic in his voice as he made frantic gestures for the other monkeys to come & rescue him from Blu's grip.

The other Monkeys snapped out of their shock & responding to his signal, moved in help their leader. Blu however, was ready. "Ah-Ah." He said warningly over his shoulder to the approaching group, but without taking his eyes off of his captive. "I wouldn't do that, make another move & he'll pay." He said menacingly & tightened his grip on Mauro's throat, causing him to start to gasp for breath. The Marmosets stopped advancing. They shot each other uncertain looks, but remained motionless. Blu relaxed his grip again, just enough to allow Mauro to breathe.

Blu's heart was hammering in his chest. He didn't know if he really had it in him to hurt his captive, but fortunately it seemed, neither did the Marmosets & they weren't willing to take the chance. He had to use the advantage his rage-filled stunt had given him while he still had it. "Now, release him." Blu ordered Mauro as he jerked his head towards Rob. Mauro, looking panicked, nodded rapidly & gave quick 'up' gesture with his paw to the Marmosets that were restraining Rob. They released him, allowing him to get up onto his claws.

"You should trim your nails, they're so long you could cut the grass with them." Rob said once he was free & he gave the Marmosets around him a dirty look. They scowled at him, but they didn't dare make any aggressive moves.

"Now speak." Blu demanded, still holding Mauro in his claw. "Where´s Jewel? What did you do to her? Why are you helping that Hawk?" He demanded.

But Mauro's expression went from fear to puzzlement at these questions. "What are you talking about?" He said, confused.

"Don´t play with me!" Blu threatened Mauro. "If you don´t know anything, then why you were attacking us?" Blu demanded again.

"I don´t know anything about any Hawk, but I´ll tell you why we were chasing you." Mauro said.

"I´m waiting." Blu said, tightening his grip to a point just before Mauro would have started choking again.

"Fine…I´ll…tell you…just…calm down." Mauro gasped & Blu loosened his grip, but didn´t release him, Blu was sure he would escape once he had the opportunity.

Rob looked at Blu´s face, his expression was filled with wrath & grudge against the Marmoset, he might not be strong enough to fight against that Hawk but he had enough determination to face him, something that would help them once the time came.

"_Speak._" Blu said in a low threatening voice, showing that he was losing his patience.

"Yes! Yes, I´ll speak." Mauro said hurriedly. "Here I go…" He said as he started to explain why they were attacking Blu.

.

* * *

.

Rafael flew through the jungle as fast as he could, trying to get results from his long & tiring endeavor. Each time he found a Bird he would greet them & show them the picture that Blu & Rob had given him. This was far easier & faster than describing the Hawk over & over, but unfortunately he always got the same answer:

"A Kidnapper! That's terrible! Of course I´ll help you…Let me see…No I haven't seen him, if I find out anything I'll let you know."

Rafael mused about the problem while he flew. He had known from the beginning that it wouldn't be an easy task, but it had been much harder work than he'd thought. Many Hawks were known to live in the area surrounding the Sanctuary, but they rarely ever approached it as they had plenty of prey & space in the mountains & hunting in the relatively small area that was guarded by Humans was more trouble than it was worth. This meant that Birds like Rafael & his family could live in relative safety, but despite that the occasional Predator sometimes passed through & everyone made sure to take notes & give them a wide berth. Sometimes a predator was willing to forget about the long-term trouble attacking the Sanctuary's residents would bring them when they were hungry & had prey right in front of their beaks, but thankfully that was extremely rare. Nevertheless in spite of the vigilance of the Sanctuary's residents for such visitors, no one had seen that specific Hawk. Rafael warned each Bird he found about how dangerous this Hawk could be, & advised them to take extra precautions, especially the ones with chicks.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly saw another Bird flying at him apparently from out of nowhere. The Bird was flying fast while carrying something & was looking down to make sure they had a good grip & didn't appear to have seen him. They were an instant from collision when both Birds saw each other & reacted, banking hard away from each other. Rafael managed to keep his grip on the poster but the other Macaw's grip on their own object slipped. In the confusion of the near-collision Rafael didn't see what it was or who exactly he had nearly hit as he was busy stabilizing his own flight & landing on a nearby branch. After getting his breath back, he turned & saw that the other Bird had managed to do the same, landing on another branch of a nearby tree. Rafael could now see that it was a Female Scarlet Macaw, & that meant it could only be one Bird.

"Rafael!" The Macaw called & jumping from the branch flew towards him, landing on the branch next to him. "It seems I was distracted." She said apologetically. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it Ana, it was my fault." Rafael explained. "Getting lost in thought while flying through a dense Jungle isn't the smartest thing I've ever done." He said with a chuckle, trying to reassure her. Then he looked concerned. "You were carrying something a moment ago though, weren't you?"

Ana looked down at her claws a little ruefully & nodded. "Yes. I was carrying a piece of fruit." She said humorously as she lifted up one of her claws & flexed it, showing it was empty. "I must have dropped it somewhere around here. Excuse me a moment while I look won't you?" She added as fluttered down off of the branch to the ground & proceeded to search the area under where she & Rafael & nearly collided.

Despite his urgent endeavor, Rafael, as a gentleman, had a duty to help her, so he fluttered down to ground to join in her search. "I´ll help you find it, we don't want you to go hungry tonight." He said "What kind of fruit was it?" he asked.

"It was a Mango. It wasn't my meal though, it's just for my food stock." Ana answered. "It must be around here, I couldn't have dropped it too far away." she said, still scanning the area.

_A food stock._ Rafael repeated in his mind. As they looked for the missing fruit Rafael recalled how Ana would spend so much time storing food for unexpected emergencies & worrying about possible dangers instead of just enjoying life. To be sure, it was a sensible approach, but food was plentiful in the Sanctuary & dangers were scarce. Many times he & others had tried to convince Ana to lighten up, relax & join in on the carefree singing & dancing the other Birds frequently engaged in, but she had always kindly but firmly, refused. Rafael was pretty sure he knew why, but it was private matter that he wouldn't discuss with others without her permission & besides, it had been some time ago now, so he hoped Ana would get over it in time.

Recently, Nico & Pedro had told Rafael how when she had finally, (& miraculously he would add) accepted their invitation to come along to The Branch, to participate in a special party they had arranged for her (though they hadn't told her that part, she almost certainly wouldn't have come otherwise) & they had also invited A Male Scarlet Macaw named Juan. Even though he was rather full of himself, the guys thought (& Rafael agreed) that he was Ana's best chance at a love interest. There weren't any other Scarlet Macaws in the area after all (Rafael mused that it was pity that Rob was a Green-wing Macaw. Nothing against them of course, but it was always the best, first choice to find matches who were the same species, like Blu & Jewel) & Juan had appeared to be smitten with Ana, so everything should have been rosy, but according to Nico & Pedro on the little dates they had arranged for them Juan had somehow always managed to say the wrong thing & Ana had always left in a huff. The same thing had also apparently happened at the party. Rafael suspected this was due to Juan´s inexperience, & had resolved to see if he could give Juan some advice about how he should behave. He had most likely just made her feel awkward & inadvertently wasted a great opportunity to introduce her into the fun. He thought they could give it another shot, but sighed internally when he concluded it was too soon for another attempt, they should wait a few weeks, maybe.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Ana called out: "Here it is!" As she found her missing Mango inside of a bush & she grabbed it. "I knew it would be around." She said happily.

Rafael nodded in satisfaction. "Good. I glad it didn't take too long to find." Rafael said. He was thankful that he hadn't wasted too much time & he could continue looking for that Hawk. Just for today he agreed with Ana´s excessive care, everyone was in real danger as long this Bird of prey was around. "It´s getting dark & we shouldn´t be out at night". Rafael continued, looking up at the sky with a worried tone in his voice.

Ana noted it. It was unusual for Rafael to be so worried & concerned, so different from his usual laid back attitude. She was sure something was disturbing him, & she glanced down at the rolled up paper he was still holding in his claw, wondering if that had something to do with it. "Rafael, can I ask what that is?" She asked curiously, as she pointed her primary feather to the sheet.

"This?" Rafael said raising his claw & Ana nodded "See for yourself." He said unrolling the Hawk´s picture.

Ana´s examined it curiously. "Hmm. Fearsome looking fellow." She commented. "He also looks just like the Hawk I saw earlier." She added.

Rafael was taken aback by her answer "A...are you sure?" he asked to confirm what he just had heard.

"Yes." Ana answered. "I saw a Hawk who looks just like this a few hours ago." She explained. "He was heading north." She said pointing her primary feather in the direction the Hawk had gone. "I´ve never seen him before, he must be new around here, or at least he must have been very well hidden for him not to have been seen around, but…" She put her head on one side, eyeing Rafael curiously. "…why are you looking for him? Are you going to warn him about Humans not taking kindly to hunting in the Sanctuary?" She asked.

Now that Rafael had found someone who had information about the Hawk he could spare some time to explain to Ana what had happened. "This Bird did something terrible to our friends…" Rafael began, & then proceeded to fill Ana in on those events.

.

* * *

.

"Nothing personal." Mauro said once he had finished with his explanation, Blu's claw still around his neck.

Blu looked at him incredulously. "Let me get this straight." He said. "Jewel hired all of you…to find me…but you don't know why."

"That´s what happened, well, she just promised to pay us." Mauro confirmed. "But we don´t know anything about a Hawk taking her away." He added. He looked thoughtful. "I suppose really, that means the deals off…" He mused.

Blu sighed. "You know what?" He said. "I don´t believe you!" He finished fiercely & tightened his grip again, he was still angry about all that had happened & this monkey could easily be lying to save himself.

"No…no…wait…its true!" Mauro gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Blu loosened his grip again allowing Mauro to speak. "I swear that´s what happened, she offered us a Gold Ring as payment." He explained "But don´t worry, we didn't deliver so she doesn´t owe us anything, plus I promise we can help you find her, just please don´t hurt me!" he begged.

Blu was still suspicious, Mauro could still be lying through his teeth, but then he noticed something in Mauro´s words "A Gold Ring?" Blu said, recalling the Ring he had given to Jewel. That was proof at least that Jewel had met them, but the knowledge that she had been willing to use that gift to entice the Marmosets into capturing him got his anger up again. Jewel had turned their ´little´ disagreement into a Fox hunt & unfortunately for Blu he was the Fox… But that was something he had caused & had to fix later, now saving Jewel took priority. "Fine, you convinced me." He said releasing the Marmoset & stepping back as the monkey took deep breaths & rubbed at his throat. "I believe you, now I see you aren´t with that Hawk, you can lea…"

"Blu wait!" Rob interrupted Blu. Blu stopped & looked at him in surprise as Rob addressed himself to Mauro. "You mentioned you can help us find Jewel, didn´t you?" He asked, looking at the Marmoset intently.

"Yes, we can." Mauro said. "Like I said, we were only coming after blue boy here because we were working for her..." Blu scowled at this but kept silent. "…now that she's…indisposed, the deals off. I can appreciate you being a little…steamed about her situation." He added, rubbing his neck gently & grimacing. "…but I gave you my word I´ll help you & we will. We can search for her covering a much bigger area than a small group of Birds like you." He explained.

"Excellent." Rob said. "We need you to do that for us, we only have until tomorrow to find her. Can you do it?" He asked.

"Sure, just leave that to us" Mauro said clapping his paws together. "We´ll give you a report as soon we find something." Mauro said.

"Good, now we need a meeting place to keep contact." Rob said.

Mauro grinned at him. "Good thinking there. That's important. Pity that Jewel lady didn't think of that…" Blu made a warning noise in his throat, & Mauro glancing at him & meeting his glare, decided not to push it. He coughed. "…hmm, yes, good thinking there boss. Where would you like us to report?" He asked.

"You know where my Hollow is, don´t you?" Blu said & Mauro nodded. "Then we can meet there when you find something." He suggested. He gave the Marmoset a suspicious look. "Are you sure you´re going to help?" he asked.

"Sure we will." Mauro confirmed. "I offered you our help if you didn´t hurt me, I wouldn´t go against my word. We can be anything but when we speak about honor it´s pretty serious." He explained.

"Fine, we´ll be waiting for your report." Rob said turning to Blu who was staring at him curiously, apparently Rob had all this under control. He was confident that with the Marmosets help they would be successful in rescuing Jewel.

"Wait!" Mauro said & Rob turned around again.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" Rob asked, looking at him curiously.

"No, everything's fine." Mauro said "I just want to know your name, I always like to know with whom I´m doing business." He explained.

"You can call me Rob." Rob answered.

"Then Rob &…Blu right?" Mauro asked & Blu nodded "I´ll see you soon with some good news." He assured them. Then he made a signal to the other monkeys & started to run away, disappearing into the Jungle with the other monkeys following him.

"I still don´t trust them." Blu said after they had left.

"They seem to be serious about deals." Rob said. "They followed Jewel´s instructions, I don´t see any reason why they wouldn´t help us." He explained.

"If you say so." Blu conceded. "What do we should do now?" He asked. "We can´t afford to lose too much time."

"Don´t worry. We´ll find her in time." Rob said. "I know it."

"Why are you so confident?" Blu asked again.

"Because this Hawk _wants_ you to find Jewel." Rob answered.

Blu gave Rob an uncertain look. "Why does he want that?" Blu asked completely confused.

"Come on Blu, wake up, I know you're not thinking to clearly right now with Jewel in danger, but it´s obvious. This is a trap!" Rob exclaimed. "You like books, don´t you? Don´t tell me you haven´t read about this." He said. "It's a very common story, the hero confronts the villain in order to save the girl. Classic literature, Mythology shows us many examples: Perseus had to face a monster in order to save Andromeda & the Trojans waited for the Greeks' attack. If that Bird is as smart as I think he is he has something prepared for you."

Rob was right, Blu realized. He _hadn't_ been thinking clearly with his worry over Jewel. He had wanted to charge off immediately & had been impatient when Rob had paused to engage in research. The rage that had come over him when he thought the monkeys were working with the Hawk had been similar, blinding him to rational thought. If he had found Jewel in such a state, he would have been blundering right into whatever trap the Hawk had laid for him. Now that Rob brought it up, Blu could indeed recall all those fantasy stories he always liked, usually the Knight was drawn by the maiden into the Dragon´s lair. "That would explain why he gave us a time limit, if he only wanted to hurt Jewel or me he could just have done it." Blu said.

"That´s my point." Rob exclaimed, thankful that Blu finally got it. "So now we should worry more about the moment we do actually find them." He concluded.

"So, what should be our next step?" Blu asked.

"We should go back & see if Rafael has found something." Rob suggested.

"Yes, Rafael! That sounds good." Blu exclaimed. The knowledge that he had so many good friends working with him on Jewel's rescue was reassuring. "I forgot about him with all this mess. Besides, it´s starting to get dark & we wouldn´t be able to go too far in the night." Blu said, his thoughts turning worriedly once again to Jewel, spending the night who knows where & with who knows who. He shook the dark thoughts away. _Please be OK Jewel, we're coming, I promise. I swear I´ll rescue you. _He thought.

"Let´s go then." Rob said & they both spread their wings & headed off to the meeting area.

.

* * *

.

"That Hawk is certainly planning something more than just harming Jewel." Ana said once Rafael told her what happened. "His movements seem to be quite obvious; he is preparing a trap to Blu for sure. That´s the reason he is showing himself around." She said ruffling her wings.

Rafael nodded in agreement. "I understand what you mean, that seems to be his plan." Rafael said. "But why is he doing that?" He asked. "If he´s never appeared before, then why should he have grudges against Blu or Jewel?" Rafael said, placing his wing over his head as he thought about it. In between his efforts to show the picture around he had been considering possible answers for that question, but it was useless. How could it be explained? A mysterious Hawk coming from nowhere, kidnapping Jewel & threatening Blu. Why? The question was bouncing around Rafael´s mind; it was something out of his understanding.

"I don´t know the full story about Blu & Jewel, have they met someone that could hold a grudge like that?" Ana asked, trying to help Rafael find answers.

"They had one enemy." Rafael said "I met him. He put me, Nico, Pedro & them in cages." He explained. "But Blu told us he couldn´t have survived their last encounter."

Ana looked thoughtful. "If they've never seen him before & don't have a possible explanation for his attack then that would mean…" Ana said thinking aloud. "…he was affected by something they did & they never knew about it." She hastened on: "Something like…collateral damage." She added. "Yes, That´s it!" Ana exclaimed. "Whatever happened to him, he is blaming Blu & Jewel for it." She concluded. Then she noticed Rafael giving her a confused look, he was listening to all her deductions but she went so fast that he found it hard to follow. "Oh, sorry, those were only some thoughts. That sounds more like a novel, isn't it? I didn´t mean to divert you from what you're doing." She apologized. "I know you don´t have much time & night is coming."

Rafael knew Ana liked to read, another thing that made her unique as not many Birds could. He had often wondered how she had learned, but (like a lot of things about her personal history) Ana preferred not to talk about it. He had occasionally seen her in the Jungle with one of those bestseller books that tourists sometimes left on the beach propped open in the branches in front of her, totally absorbed in the story. For such a cautious Bird, the fact she was willing to risk going to the beaches & searching them for these occasional literary windfalls spoke volumes about how much she enjoyed them. Sometimes of course, she was disappointed when she found a book but she couldn't read it as it was in Spanish or Portuguese (which she didn't understand) but that made finding ones she could read all the sweeter & she said she appreciated them more. Being so well-read would also explain how she had gotten all those ideas, & she was right, it sounded like a story you would find in one of those books. _Those things don´t happen in real life. _He thought. "Don´t worry, just the opposite." He reassured her. "You´ve already helped out a lot." he said. "But you´re right, it´s getting late, I should go."

"Do you need help?" Ana offered.

Rafael smiled internally. Making friends with Ana wasn't easy, but once you did you had a friend for life & her caution took second place to her loyalty. "Thanks for the offer Ana. That would be nice, but this is a Bird of prey. Its too risky & you could get hurt." Rafael said, pointing out the dangers of facing that Hawk.

"I´m hardly a delicate flower, Rafael." Ana said, her tone of displeasure showing Rafael his last comment was mildly insulting. "I'm not careless either," She added.

Rafael didn't mention how it was her moment of carelessness that had almost resulted in their mid-air collision earlier. He had been just as much at fault there after all & it wasn't as if 2 Birds colliding would have been that catastrophic anyway. If it had been a Hang-glider or something though, that would have been a different matter as they could have easily broken their wings. Instead he said: "Oh, no, no that´s not what I mean." Rafael hastened to explain. "This is too dangerous for everyone, I even asked Felipe to stay & protect his family instead of coming along." He said.

Those words hit home. Felipe, Carol & their kids were like family to Ana. "I see." She said, calming down almost instantly. "Well, best of luck then Rafael. We should get both get going." She said as she indicated the darkening sky above them with her wing.

Rafael knew she was sincerely willing to help but he wouldn´t allow for someone getting hurt & if for any strange reason he would've accepted her help, Felipe wouldn't have been happy & would have ´gently´ told him he shouldn´t have involved her. "Please be careful & don´t go into open areas, stay in the jungle." He warned her just like he had done with all the others he had found.

"I´ll be fine, I know how to take care of myself. Just teach that Hawk a lesson." Ana encouraged.

Rafael nodded again, waved his wing & took off leaving the Scarlet Macaw behind.

_Good luck._ Ana thought as she watched Rafael disappear from view. _I hope they have a good plan to outwit that Bird._ She thought, concerned, as she gripped the Mango in her claws & took off, carrying it back to her Hollow. _At least I should help them with that. _She thought.


End file.
